Skip to main content

Full text of "History of Kerala : a history of Kerala written in the form of notes on Visscher's letters from Malabar. Vol. 1"

See other formats 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Public. Resource. Org 


https://archive.org/details/historyofkerala03kppa 


fHE  LATE  Mr. 


K.  P.  PADMANABHA  MENON. 


Frontispiece . 


HISTORY  OF  KERALA 


WRITTEN  IN  THE  FORM  OF  NOTES  ON 
VISSCHER’S  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


K.  P.  PADMANABHA  MENON 


EDITED  BY 

T.  K.  KRISHNA  MENON 


IN  FOUR  VOLUMES 
VOLUME  THREE 


ASIAN  EDUCATIONAL  SERVICES 
NEW  DELHI  ★  CHENNAI  ★  2013 


ASIAN  EDUCATIONAL  SERVICES 

*RZ  256,  STREET  NO.  19,  TUGHLAKABAD  EXTENSION, 

NEW  DELHI  110  019,  INDIA 

Tel.  :  +91.11.29992586,  29994059  Fax  :+91.11.  29994946 
email :  aes@aes.ind. in 

*  2/15,  2nd  FLOOR,  ANSARI  ROAD,  D  ARY AG  AN  J,  NEW  DELHI  -  1100  02 
Tel  :  +91.11.23262044 

email :  aesdg@aes.ind.in 

*  19,  (NEW  NO.  40),  BALAJI  NAGAR  FIRST  STREET, 

ROYAPETTAH,  CHENNAI  -  600  014,  INDIA 

Tel.  :  +91.44.28133040  /  28131391  Fax  :  +91.11.28133020 

email :  aesmds@aes.ind. in 


www.aes.ind.in 


Printed  and  Hand-Bound  in  India 


Price  :  Rs.  4950  (Set  of  4  volumes) 

First  Published  :  1937. 

First  AES  Reprint :  New  Delhi,  1982. 

Sixth  AES  Reprint:  New  Delhi,  2013. 

ISBN:  8120601645 

Published  by  Gautam  Jetley 

For  ASIAN  EDUCATIONAL  SERVICES, 

256,  St.  No.  19,  Tughlakabad  Ext.,  New  Delhi  110019. 
Processed  by  AES  Publications  Pvt.  Ltd.,  New  Delhi-110019. 
Printed  at  Chaudhary  Offset  Process,  Delhi  -  110  051. 


DEDICATION 


Mrs.  K.  P.  PADMANABHA  MENON. 


••••  . 

y  n 


CONTENTS 


List  of  illustrations 

Foreword,  by  the  Editor  xi 

Letter  XX. 

Of  the  Nayars,  or  warrior  caste  of  Malabar — ^ 
Their  families,  occupations,  mode  of  warfare, 
and  numbers 

Letter  XXL 

Account  of  the  Chegos,  and  other  low 
castes  of  Malabar 

Letter  XXII. 

Account  of  the  Pattares  and  their  privi¬ 
leges.  Of  the  Canarese,  their  manner  of  life, 
division  of  caste,  nuptial  and  funeral  cere- 
monlesr  and  feasts:  and  of  the  Jogis 


PAGES 
ix — x 
et  seq. 


i — 6 

6-  ;o 


9 — 17 


Vi 


CONTENTS 


NOTES 


Pages. 

On  Letter  XX.  i  to  422 

Introductory  Notes  1.  The  inhabitants  of 
Malabar  and  their  divisions  1  to  27.  II. 
Nambutiries  27  to  136,  III.  The  Kshetre- 
yas  of  Malabar  137  to  144.  IV.  Antaralas 
144  to  161.  V.  (1)  The  Nayars,  161 
to  337.  (2)  Nayars  338  to  342.  (3)  Nayars 
form  an  honoured  Caste  342.  (4)  Military 

training  343  to  347.  (5)  Division  into  two 

classes  347-  (6)  Nambidi  or  Nampidi  347 
to  348.  (7)  Nambiar  348  to  349.  (8j 

Samandara  349  to  352.  (9)  Patistsjan  352. 

(10)  Bellalen  orBellares  353.  (n)  Wellek 
Fellenairs  353.  (12)  Saneratoyaar — San- 

karachariar  353.  (13)  Sudren  354.  (14) 

Some  Lords,  but  most  hold  estates  in  fief  354 
to  339.  (15)  Nayars  in  attendance  on  Rajas 
359  to  361.  (16)  Inferior  Sudras  361.  (17) 

Sakkiar—Chakkiar  361  to  367.  (18)  Poodu- 
vallen  367.  (19)  Andoekellan  36S  to  369. 

(20)  Izomboe  Kotty— Chembu  Kotty  369  to 
370.  (21)  Toonen  370.  (22)  Noolchottln 

— Nul  Chetti  370.  (23)  Welsiath  Nayars  370 
(24)  Jodacheri — Itacheri  Nayars  370.  (25) 

Wallafnneoers  or  valanmars  370.  (26)  Ajari, 

Moojari,  Tattan,  Kollan  370  to  373.  (27) 

The  Pulleahs  do  not  venture  to  approach 
them  373  to  381.  (28)  ^‘hese  carry  naked 
sword  381  to  382.  (29)  Katajanel  or 
Katuttila  382.  (30)  Various  weapons  of 

war  382  to  385.  (31)  Country  covered  with 

bushes,  etc.  385.  (32)  Obliged  to  march  in 
single  file  385  to  386.  (33)  The  elephant 

386.  (34)  They  make  musket  barrels,  and 
take  sure  aims  386  to  387,  (35)  Fire  shot 
hits  387  to  388.  (36)  Barbarous  nations 


CONTENTS 


•  * 

Vll 

Pages 

388  to  395.  (37)  Ignorant  of  the  science  of 
beleaguering  strongholds  395  to  417.  (38) 

No  materials  for  cannonading  417.  (39) 

Entice  own  m6n  418.  (40)  No  much  blood¬ 

shed  418.  (41)  Places  unprotected  418  to 
419.  (42)  pay  fine  for  the  siain  419  to  420. 

(43)  Boast  of  numbers  420  to  422. 

Utter;  XXI.  423  to  6o* 

(1)  Ca&tes  of  Lower  orders  423  to  424. 

(2)  Chegos  (The  Iluvas)  424  to  426.  (3) 

Coelgoeryp — Malayalam,  Kole  Kurup  446 
to  447.  (4)  Canniargeryp — Malayalam, 

Kanian  Kurup  447  to  44S.  (5)  Coolady — 

Malayalam,  Kuttati — a  dancer,  448.  (6) 

Canianool —Malayalam,  Kaniyan  448  to  455. 
p7)  TheCorwas — Malayalam,  Koravars  455. 

(8)  .The  Cuka  Corwas — Malayalam,  Kakka 
Kuravan  455  to  456.  (9)  The  Poenen- 

Poeloo — Malayalam,  Panan,  Pullon  456  to 
459.  (10)  These  four  castes  460.  (n) 

The  Macquaas — Malayalam,  Mukkavan,  460 
to  476.  (12)  Cannakas,  Bettoas  (Kanakans 
and  Velluvars)  476,  (13)  Caste  precedence 
476  to  477.  (14)  The  Pulleahs — The  Pu- 
layans  477  to  512.  (15)  The  Parayas  512 
to  523.  (16)  Jungle  castes  523  to  526. 

(17)  Ollares — Malayalam,  Ullalers  526  10528. 

(18)  Wedden — Malayalam,  Vetan  or  hunter 

528  to  529.  (19)  Naiaddy — Malayalam, 

Nayati — hunter  529  to  538.  Hill  tribes 
538  to  601. 

Utter  XXII.  602  to  649 

(1)  Foreigners— Three  descriptions  602. 

(2)  The  Pattars  602  to  604.  (3)  Pattars 
no  share  in  the  administration  604  to  605. 

(4)  Faclories  605.  (5)  Privileges  to 

Pattars  605  to  606,  (8)  Ji.  (6)  Three  castes 


CONTENTS 


vm 


Pages 

606  to  609.  (7)  The  Konkanies  609  to  610. 

(8)  The  Canarese,  610  to  613.  (9)  Canarese 
live  near  forts  613  to  614.  (10)  Two 
classes  of  Canarese,  61 1  to  618.  (11)  San- 

carachar— Sankarachariya  618  to  628.  (12) 

Marriage  629.  (13)  Solemnities  are  alike 
at  birth  and  death  629  to  631.  (14)  Caste 
and  occupation  631  to  633.  (15)  Sons 
alone  inherit  633.  (16)  Wannia — The 
Vanyans  633.  (17)  The  Sonar  633  to  634. 

(18)  The  “Iswwede”  and  the  Curronby  634 
to  636.  (19)  Festivals  of  Canarese  636  to 

640.  (20)  The  Caste  Government  64.0  to 

643,  (21)  Jogis  643  to  649. 

Transliteration  Table  650 

Index  651—660 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Facing  page 

The  late  Mr.  &  Mrs.  K.  P.  Padmanabha  Menon  Front 

Mr.  &  Mrs.  T.  K.  Krishna  Menon  xi 

Sri  Chattambi  Swami  xiv 

A  Namputiri  and  his  Antarjanam  49 

A  typical  Namputiri  Illom  52 

The  Vedic  College  in  Trichur  70 

A  Namputiri  boy  after  Upanayanam  101 

Samkhakkali  124 

Ambalavasi  ladles  147 

Sir  C.  Sankaran  Nayar  16 1 

Sir  M.  Krishnan  Nayar  73 

Two  Nayar  ladies  204 

Atypical  aristocratic  Nayar  House  220 

A  few  of  the  weapons  used  by  Nayars  of  old  days  229 

Sir  K.  Ramunni  Menon  232 

A  Bhagavathi  Kavu  240 

Kanian  Astrologers  241 

Velans*  dance  242 

Nayars  tuning  their  musical  bows  252 

A  few  characters  of  Kathakali  322 

Ottanthullal  323 

Threshing  corn  333 

The  late  Diwan  T.  Sankunni  Menon,  C.  S.  I.  334 

Boats  of  olden  days  339 

Nayar  warriors  of  ancient  times  34° 

A  Chakyar  in  robes  364 

Bell-metal  (Musari)  workers  370 

Asari  Women  372 

Elephants  arranging  logs  3S6 

Izhuvas  with  toddy-drawing  pots  43° 

Sri  Narayana  Guru  Swami  443 

A  Panan  dance  456 

Pulluvans  with  their  musical  instruments  457 


A  Vala  marriage  party 

Facing  page 
466 

Marars  and  their  instruments 

468 

Boats  of  recent  times 

472 

Umbrella-makers:  Pulayas 

482 

Thandapulaya  Women 

483 

Parayans  at  wicker-work 

515 

Parayan  devil-dance 

520 

An  Ulladan’s  family 

527 

Yetans 

528 

Nayadis  on  a  begging  tour 

532 

A  group  of  Kadars 

S38 

A  Tamil  lady  with  her  daughters 

603 

The  late  Mr.  T.  A.  Doraswami  Iyer 

$04 

Tamil  Brahmin  students  and  their  Pandits 

605 

Konkan  Brahmins 

609 

The  late  Mr.  Hari  Shenoy 

610 

A  group  of  Kudumi  Che^ties 

634 

[Postscript  to  the  Foreword: — For  many  of  the  blocks  that 
have  served  to  illustrate  this  volume,  the  Editor  is,  as  on  two 
former  occasions,  indebted  to  the  Government  of  Cochin;  and  for 
a  few  of  the  rest  to  Messrs.  T.  Thomas  and  P.  C.  Varkki.  His 
acknowledgments  are  due  to  Mr.  P.  I.  Cheriyan,  the  Darbar  Pho- 
tographer,  for  some  photographs,  to  Mr.  K.  Narasimha  Pai,  for  a 
photo  of  the  late  Mr.  Hari  Shenoy,  and  to  Mr.  M.  S.  Menon,  for 
an  old  print  of  a  Namputiri  and  his  Antarjanam.  He  is  grateful 
also  to  Sir  C.  Sankaran  Nayar,  Sir  M.  Krishnan  N^yar  and  Sir 
K.Ramunni  Menon  for  leave  to  put  in  their  likeness^  in  this  book. 
He  owes  it  to  Mr.  N.  M.  Parameswara  Ayyar,  the  Superintendent 
of  the  Cochin  Government  Press,  to  state  with  pleasure  that  the 
varm  co-operation  of  the  latter  and  his  staff  in  getting  this  work 
through  the  press  has  been  of  great  help  to  him.  Finally,  he 
wishes  to  take  advantage  of  this  postscript  to  record  a  remark  or 
two  which  could  not,  with  propriety,  be  included  in  the  Foreword./ 
The  manuscript  of  this  valuable  publication  was  ready  about  a 
quarter  of  a  centu'ry  ago.  The  Editor  had  to  face  considerable 
difficulty  in  his  attempt  to  make  it  up-to-date.  To  mention  but 
one  obstacle  in  the  way— ‘the  nearest  library  for  reference  lies 


Mr.  &  Mrs.  T.  K.  Krishna  Menon. 
(The  Editor  of  this  work  and  his  wk 


i  To  face  p.  XI 


XI 


miles  away  from  his  place  of  residence.  This  he  states  not  to  feed 
any  morbid  self-esteem,  much  less  to  evoke,  by  words  insiduous, 
the  sympathy  of  his  critics.  He  welcomes  criticism,  even  violent 
and  unsparing,  provided  it  is  correct  and  merited  and  supplies 
something  helpful  which  after  all,  he  trusts,  is  the  true  motive 
and  meaning  of  criticism.  Whatever  that  be,  he  thinks  he  has 
worked  hard  to  carry  out  the  behest  of  his  master  and  to  deliver 
that  patriot’s  message  with  its  force  in  no  way  diminished.  Let 
Malayalis  heed  it;  “bewildered  by  the  rush  of  the  modern  world,  let 
them  not  move  from  their  high  seat  of  vision,  forget  their  ancient 
prophets,  barter  their  great  inheritance,  and  bow  down  before  the 
perishable  idols  of  the  present  age,  the  unconsecrated  gods  of  a 
passing  hour.”  Let  them,  on  the  other  hand,  hold  aloft  the 
banner  of  Kerala  and  live  up  to  the  noble  traditions  of  their 
romantic,  their  sacred  Motherland — Editor .] 


■ 


. 


FOREWORD 


BY  THE  EDITOR. 


There  is  a  class  of  scholars  who  believe  that  Vslmi- 
ki’s  RamSyaria  is  an  allegorical  poem  intended  to  depict 
the  introduction  by  the  Aryans  of  agriculture  and  civili¬ 
sation  into  Southern  India.1  According  to  some  of 
these,  the  whole  of  South  India,  by  them  called  Daijda- 
kSraijya,  was  originally  covered  by  impenetrable  forests 
and  infested  by  Dasyus,  Rskshasas  and  Vsnaras.  But 
they  forget  that  the  descriptions  of  Janasthana  and  Kish- 
kindha  given  in  that  great  epic  itself  will  indubitably 
disprove  their  theory-  And,  as  for  Lanka,  the  capital 
of  Rsvaija,  the  poet  shows  that,  from  its  marvellous 
splendours  of  art,  architecture  and  culture,  it  far  out¬ 
shone  the  capital  of  DaSarafha  himself.  HanumSn  was 
not  an  ordinary  monkey  in  any  case;  his  learning,  tact 
and  firmness  marked  him  out  as  one  fit  to  carry  out  a 
great  mission;  while  Rsvaiia,  as  an  administrator  and 
commander,  was  worthy  to  be  Rama’s  antagonist.  To 
crown  all,  the  name  of  Manujodari,  the  spouse  of  the 
much-maligned  R£k§hasa  King,  Ravana,  the  Aryan 
ladies  were  asked  to  daily  remember  for  the  extinction 
of  their  heinous  sins2  , — if  any. 

As  Dr.  Fleure  correctly  puts  it,  the  idea  of  a  barbar¬ 
ous  Dravidian  India  on  wThich  Aryan  Civilisation  descen¬ 
ded  has  been  fairly  widespread,  while  the  number  of  ad¬ 
vocates  who  plead  for  the  cause  of  an  ancient  civilisation 

1.  Weber’s  History  of  Sanskrit  Literature ,  page  192.  Dutt’s 
Ancietit  India ,  pp.  209  and  211. 

2.  ( Ahalya  Draupadi  Sita 
Tara  Mannodart  tatha 
Panchakanya-smara-nnithyam 
Mahapatakanasanam ) 


FOREWORD 


•  • 
xn 

of  South  India  is  not  as  great  as  one  might  wish.1  And 
yet,  curiously  enough,  if  one  looks  at  the  subject  care¬ 
fully,  he  will  find  that  the  RsmSyaija,  the  Mahsbhsrap, 
Asoka’s  Edicts,  Kalidasa’s  Raghuvamsa,  Sinhalese 
traditions,  the  Periplus,  Ptolemy’s  Geography,  all  these 
clearly  testify  to  the  early  existence  of  prosperous,  pro¬ 
gressive  and  independent  kingdoms  in  South  India.2 
The  Dravidians  were  in  possession  of  India  long  before 
the  Aryans  came  to  it,  and  had  developed  a  civilisation 
independent  of  any  Aryan  influence  3.  Sugrlva,  when 
he  sends  out  his  monkey  leaders  to  discover  the  where¬ 
abouts  of  Slta,  directs  them  to  search  for  her  in  Vidar- 
bha,  Andhra,  Choia,  PSndya  and  Kerala  countries. 
Reference  is  made  toMusiris,  a  great  emporium  of  the 
Chera  kingdom.  4  In  the  Sabha  Parva  of  the  Maha- 
bharata,  the  kings  of  the  Dravidas  are  incidently  ad¬ 
verted  to.  The  description  of  the  swayamvara  of  Dama- 
yanti,  gives  the  reader  of  that  epic  a  vivid  idea  of  the 
grandeur  of  Vidarbha.  5  And  Dandakaranya,  by  neces¬ 
sary  inference,  can  be  seen  to  have  occupied  only  a 
limited  portion  ol  Deccan  t6 

1.  Dr.  Fleure  in  his  Preface  to  Dr.  G.  Slater’s  Dravidian 
Element  in  India  Culture . 

2.  Dravidian  India  by  Mr,  T.  R.  Sesha  Iyyengar,  M,  A.» 
p.  185. 

3.  Ibid.  p.  1 19, 

4.  Chera  and  Kerala  denote  the  same  country.  “I  have  no 
doubt”  says  Dr.  Caldwell  “that  the  names  Chera  and  Keralam 
were  originally  one  and  the  same,”  Dr.  Gundert  has  thus  in  his 
Malayalam  Dictionary: — “Keram=Chera=Malabar.”  “Keralam 
=Cheram,  the  country  between  Gokarnam  and  Cumari.”  The 
latitude  of  the  Chera  Metrapolis,  according  to  Ptolemy,  was  38° 
15,’  and  the  ports  of  Tyndis  and  Musiris  were  within  his  domi¬ 
nions,  {Madras  Review  Vol.  1,  p.  352.  See  also  History  of 
Kerala  Vol.  I,  p.  28. 

5 — 6  Dravidian  India  pp.  16  to  19,  and  p.  124.  Also  see  Mr. 
E,  B.  Havell’s  Short  History  of  India,  p.  19.  In  his  Digvijaya  tour, 
Sahadeva  visits  Dravidas,  Cholas,  Keralas  and  Pandyas.  Again 
Keralas  and  Cholas  fought  on  the  side  of  the  Pandavas.  (Maha- 
bharata,  VIII,  22-455-1893.  See  History  of  the  Jamils ,  by  Mr. 
P«  T,  S.  Iyyengar,  M.  A.,  pp.  89-90.) 


FOREWORD 


tn 

xin 

The  Dravidians  had  well-ordered  villages,  roads, 
buildings,  tanks  and  reservoirs.1  The  Dravidian  archi¬ 
tecture  is  of  indigenous  origin  and  has  had  its  own 
course  of  evolution.2  The  art  of  agriculture  existed 
in  Southern  India  long  before  the  Aryans  came  to  it. 
Sir  John  Hewell,  in  his  Pre-historic  Ruling  Races , 
says  that  the  Dravidians  were,  of  all  the  great  races  of 
antiquity,  the  first  to  systematise  agriculture-  It  was 
a  Kerala  monarch  who  supplied  rations  of  rice  to  the 
contending  armies  of  tl>e  Mahabharatha  war.3 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Aryan  civilisation 
was  greatly  influenced  by  the  Dravidians. 4  In  matters 
connected  with  the  land  tenures,  social  organisation, 
village  administration  and  taxation,  the  Aryans  adopted 
much  from  the  systems  of  the  Dravidians. 5  “As  a 
matter  of  fact,”  says  Dr.  R.  Tagore,  “the  old  Dravidian 
culture  was  by  no  means  to  be  despised.  The  Aryan 
civilisation  acquired  both  richness  and  depth  under  the 
influence  of  the  Dravidian  component.  The  Dravidians 
might  not  be  introspective  or  metaphysical*  but  they 
were  artists,  and  they  could  sing,  design  and  con¬ 
struct.”6 

In  the  introduction  to  his  Six  Systems  of  Indian 
Philosophy ,  Professor  M!a x  Muller  remarks  that,  in  the 
south  of  India,  there  exists  a  philosophical  literature 
which  shows  original,  indigenous  elements  of  great 

j.  Dravidian  India ,  pp.  54,  123  and  174.  See  also  Baden 
Powell’s  Village  Communities  in  India ,  p.  49.  Also  Dr.  R.  Mooker- . 
jee’s  article  on  Village  Assemblies  in  the  Lucknow  University 
Journal  Vol.  I,  No.  3.  About  the  National  and  Village  Assemblies 
of  Kerala,  see  History  of  Kerala ,  Vol.  I,  pp.  250  and  259. 

2.  Dravidian  India,  p.  118,  See  also  Dravidian  Architecture 
by  Jouvean  Dubreial. 

3.  Dravidian  India ,  pp.  125,  127..  Also  Siddhanta  Deepika , 
Vol.  Vt  pp.  169-170. 

4.  Professor  Rapson’s  Ancient  India ,  p.  29. 

5.  Dravidian  India,  p.  120.  Introduction  to  the  Ambattha 
Siitta,  Sacred  Books  of  the  Buddhists ,  p.  96. 

6.  Dravidian  India,  p.  117, 


xiv 


FOREWORD 


beauty  and  importance.1  What  is  Indian  religion  but 
Dravidian  religion  ?  For  the  greatest  deities  of  Hin¬ 
duism  were  unknown  to  Vedic  Rishis.  2  Siva  is 
Dakshinamurthy ,  a  God  of  the  South;  and  Agasthya, 
the  tradition  goes,  learned  his  Tamil  from  Siva.s 
According  to  Mr.  P.  T.  Sreenivasa  Iyyengar,  languages 
spoken  in  India  in  olden  times  (say  20,000  years  ago) 
were  all  dialects  of  proto-Tamil;  *  while  Dr.  Maclean, 
though  he  does  not  go  so  far,  still  holds  that  there  is 
littl^  doubt  that  the  Dravidian  languages  are  compa¬ 
ratively  older  in  point  of  time  than  Sanskrits  I  have 
seen  a  paper  in  manuscript  on  this  subject  by  the  late 
Chattampi  Swami,  whose  encyclopaedic  knowledge 
was  the  wonder  and  despair  of  his  erudite  contemporary 
scholars.6  Samskriikam  means,  he  says,  that  which  is 
refined.  From  what,  he  asks  ?  and  he  seeks  to  prove 
in  a  variety  of  ways,  that  the  basis  of  Sanskrit  is  Tamil, 
or,  tjo  be  more  acurate,  proto-Tamil.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  one  fact  comes  out  clearly  that  the  Dravidians 
developed  their  language,  religion,  political  organisa¬ 
tion  and  social  structure  unaided,  at  any  rate,  in  their 
early  stages,  by  the  Aryans.7  It  is  fairly  evident  that 
the  Dravidian  culture  had,  before  the  coming  in  of  the 
Aryans,  already  attained  a  high  standard  of  excellence 
on  lines  economic,  martial  and  literary  in  centuries 
preceding  the  Christian  Era.8 


1.  Pp.  XX-XXI. 

2.  Sir  Charles  Elliot’s  Sketch  of  Hinduism  and  Buddhism % 
Book  I,  p.  XV. 

3.  Dravidian  India ,  pp.  98  to  101. 

4.  Ibidt  p.  79. 

5.  Manual  of  Administration  of  the  Madras  Presidency , 
pp.  42  and  112-3. 

6.  A  part  of  it,  I  know,  is  with  H.  H.  Thachudaya  Kaimal 
at  Irinjalakuday  in  the  Cochin  State. 

7.  Mr.  Featherman’s  History  of  Mankind ,  Vol.  I,  p.  3.  See 
Malabar  Quarterly  Review ,  Vol.  V,  p.  igo  et  seq .  Also  Keraldm 
by  the  late  Kunhikuttan  Tampuran,  p.  5,  SI.  16. 

8.  Dr.  A.  K.  Coomaraswami’  History  of  India  and  Indone • 
sian  Artrpt  6. 


SRI  CHATTAMP  SWAMI. 


( To  face  p.  XIV. 


FOREWORD 


xv 


The  ancient  Dravidians  were  the  direct  ancestors 
of  the  Tamil,  Telugu,  Malayalam,  Canareseand  other 
tribes  that  occupied  the  greater  part  of  South  India.1 
At  first  they  seem  to  have  been  scattered  ai 
most  all  over  India  until  we  find  them  congregated 
in  the  south  of  the  Peninsula.  Manu,  it  is  significant, ; 
classifies  them  as  among  the  tribes  that  had  once  been 
Kshetriyas.  So  too  Harivamsa .  While  certain  other 
Puraijas,  such  as  the  Vayut  the  Matsya  and  the  Agni, 
claim  for  them  an  Aryan  Kshetriya  ancestry!  In  any  case, 
we  never  find  them  classed  as  Sudras;  and  in  the  whole 
of  the  Tolkappiyam,  there  is  no  reference  whatever 
to  the  term  Sudra.  2 3  The  Dravidians  were  no  doubt 
called  by  the  Aryans  as  Asuras,  Daityas,  Dasyus  or 
Nsgas.  But  it  is  equally  true  that  traditions,  inscrip¬ 
tions  and  ancient  literature  prove  in  an  unmistakable 
way  that  the  three  great  Dravidian  Kingdoms  of  Chola, 
Chgra  and  Psridya  had,  before  the  advent  of  the 
Aryans,  attained,  in  civil  and  military  organisations, 
and  in  every  department  of  science  and  art,  a  high  level, 
and  played  a  grand  part  in  the  development  of  Dravi¬ 
dian  culture.  s 

1.  A  distinguished  contributor  to  the  Supplementary  Volumes 
of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  speaks  of  South  India  as  “the 
home  of  that  great,  mysterious  Dravidian  Civilisation.”  Vol.  I, 
p.  158. 

Mr.  John  Campbell  refers  to  the  common  origin  of  the 
Nayars  and  Hittites.  (See  the  Jenmi-Kudiyan  Com.  Report 
of  Travancore,  p.  31).  For  the  Basque  origin  theory,  see  the  same 
Report,  pp.  26  and  62.  Ferguson  regards  them  as  closely  aRied 
to  the  Newars  of  Nepal;  while  there  are  others  who  claim  for  them 
a  kinship  with  the  people  in  Bengal.  ( The  Tamils  1,800  years 
Ago ,  p.  46). 

2.  Dravidian  India,  pp.  21  to  23  and  180.  See  the  Editor’s 
Note  on  p.  337  in  the  History  of  Kerala ,  Vol.  III. 

3.  A  perusal  of  Dravidian  India  by  Professor  T.  R.  Sesha 
Ayyengar,  M.  A.,  will  amply  bear  out  this  statement.  The  refer, 
ence  is  only  illustrative,  not  exhaustive.  See  the  Editor’s  Notes 
to  the  History  of  Kerala,  Vol.  Ill,  beginning  on  pp.  162,  167  and 
182. 


XVI 


FOREWORD 


Mr.  F.  J.  Richards  is  perfectly  right  when  he  says 
that  a  variety  of  causes,  partly  political  and  partly 
literary,  has  tended  to  the  belittlement  of  Peninsular 
India’s  contribution  to  the  history  both  of  India  and  of 
the  world  at  large.1  The  experts,  he  remarks,  have 
failed  to  take  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  data; 
and  he  advises  the  South  Indians  that  it  is  time  for  them 
to  champion  for  their  cause  and  to  assert  their  claims 
to  recognition.  It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  assume 
the  function  of  an  advocate  to  maintain  that  cause. 
The  subject  is  too  large  for  me  to  handle;  but  I  am 
sure  it  will  be  handled  in  the  years  to  come  by  those 
more  competent  than  myself.  My  anxious  desire  is  to 
follow,  very  humbly  as  needs  must,  the  ways  of  a 
modest  annalis.t  who  presents  in  brief  outline  a  few  of 
the  relevant  materials  he  has  on  hand;  and  I  shall  con¬ 
sider  my  labours  rewarded  if,  in  so  doing,  I  shall  be 
able  to  recapture  an  image  of  the  past  and  benefit  those 
who  wish  to  work  on  this  subject.  Now  to  proceed 
with  the  theme- 

Mr.  H-  R.  Hall  suggests  Sumerians  to  be  a  branch 
of  the  Indian  Dravidians.  2  To  quote  Mr.  Hall: — “It 
was  in  their  home  that  the  Sumerians  developed  their 
culture.  There  their  writing  may  have  been  invented 
and  progressed  from  a  purely  pictorial  to  a  simplified 
and  abbreviated  form  which  in  Babylonia  took  on  its 
peculiar  cuneiform  appearance.  On  their  way  they 
left  the  seeds  of  their  culture  in  Elam”.  ?  Provided 
Mr.  Hall’s  theory  holds  good,  says  Dr.  Suniti  Kumar 
Chatterji,  “It  would  be  established  that  civilisation 
first  arose  in  India  and  was  probably  associated  with 
the  primitive  Dravidians.  Then  it  was  taken  to  Meso¬ 
potamia  to  become  the  source  of  the  Babylonian  and 

1.  Side-lights  on  the  Dravidian  Problem  by  Mr.  F.  J. 
Richards,  I.  C.  S.,  M.  A.,  M.  R.  A.  S..  F.  R*  A.  I,  in  the  Quar¬ 
terly  Journal  of  the  Mythic  Society,  Vol.  VI,  p.  156. 

2.  The  Ancient  History  of  the  Near  East%  p.  173. 

3.  Dravidian  India ,  p.  58. 


FOREWORD 


xvii 


other  ancient  cultures  which  form  the  basis  of  modern 
civilisation.’ *  1  Sir  John  Marshall  also  comes  out  with 
the  important  suggestion  that,  if  the  Sumerians  were 
an  intrusive  element  in  Mesopotamia,  then  India  may 
eventually  prove  to  be  the  cradle  of  the  Sumerian 
civilisation  which,  in  its  turn,  formed  the  bedrock  on 
which  the  magnificent  superstructure  of  Babylonian, 
Assyrian  and  West  Asiatic  cultures  generally  rested.2 3 4 5 
Dr.  Chatterji,  an  authority  on  Comparative  Philology 
distinctly  hints  that  Cretan,  Lycian,  Sumerian,  Elamite, 
and  Dravidian  languages  might  be  materially  related, 
and  that  the  Aegean  islands,  Asia  Minor  and  Mesopo¬ 
tamia  might  have  formed  one  cultural  area.3 

The  recent  discoveries  at  Harappa  in  Punjab  and 
Mohen-jo-Daro  in  Sindh  prove  the  existence  in  India 
in  the  remote  past  of  a  civilisation  and  culture  closely 
akin  to  those  of  the  Sumerians. 4  The  materials  found 
in  the  Indus  valley — remains  of  buildings  and  temples, 
pottery  and  terra  cotta,  beads  and  glassware,  crude 
porcelain,  bronze  and  iron  articles,  and,  what  is  more, 
inscribed  seals  and  copper  coins, — solidly  demonstrate 
the  presence  of  a  high  culture  in  ancient  India  compa¬ 
rable  in  antiquity  and  extent  with  those  of  Anon  and 
Susa,  of  Babylon  and  Crete.s  The  ancient  seals,  and 
there  are  a  great  number  of  fhem,  are  inscribed  with 
Sumerian  writing  and  associated  with  buildings  and 
cultural  objects  of  the  Sumerian  and  Phoenician  type.6 
In  the  opinion  of  Mr.  R.  D.  Banerji  and  others,  the 
Mohen-jo-Dara  and  Harappa  culture  is  non- Aryan. 
The  presence  of  the  Brahuis  in  Baluchistan  lends  con¬ 
siderable  support  to  the  view  that  the  people  who  built 

1.  Dravidian  India ,  p.  59. 

2.  Ibid,  p,  57. 

3.  Ibid.  p.  42. 

4.  Indian  Historical  Quarterly ,  Calcutta,  Vol,  I,  p.  644. 

5.  Ibid.  Vol.  VII,  p.  177, 

6.  Dravidian  India ,  p.  88. 


xviii 


FOREWORD 


up  this  culture  were  the  primitive  Dravidians.1  Sir 
John  Evans  is'  emphatic  in  his  assertion  that  “Southern 
India  was  the  cradle  of  the  human  race,  and  the  pass- 
age-ground  by  which  the  ancient  progenitors  of 
Northern  and  Mediterranean  races  proceeded  to  the 
parts  of  the  globe  which  they  now  inhabit.”2 3 4 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  the  remarks  of 
Mr,  W.  Reade  that  India,  as  a  land  of  Desire,  has  con¬ 
tributed  much  to  the  development  of  man.  Open,  the 
book  of  Universal  History  at  what  period  we  may,  it  is, 
he  says,  always  the  Indian  trade  which  is  the  cause  of 
the  internal  industry  and  foreign  negotiation. 3 

The  people  who  were  mainly  responsible  for  the 
early  Indian  trade  were  the  Dravidians.  They  formed 
one  of  the  principal  seafaring  sections  of  the  Sumerians. 
The  Dravidians  of  South  India  lived  near  the  sea  and 
were  familiar  with  it.  They  became  skilled  fishermen 
*and  boat  builders.  Toni ,  Otam ,  Pathemar  and  Kappal 
are  Dra vidian  words.  There  is  abundant  evidence, 
writes  Mr.  Richards,  to  show  that  a  large  proportion 
of  the  ancient  trade  between  India  and  the  west  was 
carried  on  Indian  bottoms,  and  it  seems  certain  that 
the  maritime  enterprise  of  ancient  India  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Dravidians. 4  They  formed  the  large 

1.  Dravidian  India ,  p.  178.  Among  the  modern  Indians  as 
amongst  the  modern  Greeks  or  Italians,  the  ancient  pre-Aryan 
type  of  the  head  has  arrived;  and  it  is  to  this  Dravidian  ethnic 
type  of  India  that  the  ancient  Sumerians  bears  most  resemblance”. 
Professor  P.  T.  S.  Iyyengar’s  History  of  the  Tamils  pp.  36 — 7. 
Mr.  C.  F.  Oldhan  in  his  The  Sun  and  the  Serpant  shows  the 
presence  of  the  Dravidian  element  in  the  people  of  North  India. 

2.  Presidential  Address  before  the  British  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  1897.  Mr.  E  J.  Forsdyke,  M.  A.# 
F.S.A.,  who  contributes  the  article  on  Crete  to  the  supplementary 
volumes  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica ,  calls  Sir  John  Evans  as 
**the  most  experienced  and  the  most  active  of  Cretan  explorers.’' 
Vol.  I,  p.  175. 

3.  Martyrdom  of  Man ,  22nd  Impression,  pp.  40 — 41, 

4.  Mythic  Society  Journal ,  Vol,  VI,  p,  182* 


FOREWORD 


six 

proportion  of  the  sailors  of  the  Indian  Ocean.1  To 
them  the  long  chain  of  backwaters  on  the  west  coast 
supplied  a  sort  of  elementary  school  of  navigation.2 
They  gave  rise  to  the  race  of  sailors  who  carried 
Indian  goods  in  boats  to  Africa  and  Arabia  in  the  west 
and  to  Malaya  and  China  in  the  East. 3  Extensive 
travel  by  sea  in  very  early  times  can  alone  explain  the 
possibility  of  colonising  the  Mesopotamian  valley  on 
the  one  side  and  of  the  Indian  Archipelago  on  the 
other.  4  The  Dravidians  traded  with  the  ancient 
Chaldeans  Ipng  before  the  Vedic  language  found  its 
way  into  India,  s  In  the  words  of  Dr*  Sayce,  the 
commerce  between  India  and  Babylon  must  have  been 
carried  on  as  early  as  about  3,000  B.  C.,  when  Ur 
Bagas,  the  first  king  of  the  United  Babylonia  ruled  in 
Ur  (Mughair)  of  the  Chaldees.  6  The  people  of  South 
India  used  to  cross  over  to  the  islands  of  the  Indian 
Archipelago,  Java,  Sumatra,  Borneo  and  establish 
colonies  there.  From  Java  they  pushed  on  to  the 
mainland  and  founded  the  Indian  colonies  of  Siam  and 
Cambodia.  7  In  later  days,  Augustus  conquered 
Egypt  in  B.  C.  30,  and  he  tried  to  develop  a  direct  sea 
trade  between  India  and  the  Roman  Empire.  Though 
extensive  trade  existed  from  very  early  times  between  the  . 
Mediterranean  Cities  and  the  ports  of  Kerala,  neither 
the  Phoenicians  under  Hiram,  the  Jews  under  Solomon, 
the  Syrians  under  the  Sele acids  and  the  Egyptians 
under  the  Ptolemies  took  the  open  route.  It  was  the 
Romans  who  revolutionised  the  maritime  trade  by  dis¬ 
covering  what  Pliny  calls  a  compendious  route.8 

1.  Dravidian  India ,  p.'i3i. 

2.  Dravidian  Element  in  Indian  Culture,  p.  82, 

3.  History  of  the  Tamils ,  p.  12. 

4.  Dravidian  India ,  p.  36.  Also  Mr.  Hall’s  Ancient  History 
of  the  Near  East,  pp.  173 — 4. 

5.  Dravidian  India,  p.  13 1. 

6.  Dr.R.  Mookerji’s  Indian  Shipping,  p.  85.  Also  Professor 
Sayce’s  Hibbert  Lectures,  pp.  137—8. 

7.  Hindu  Colony  of  Cambodia ,  by  Mr.  P.  N.  Bose,  M.  A., 

d.  2 

8.  Cochin  Stale  Manual ,  Government  Press,  pp.  35 — 6. 


XX 


FOREWORD 


Subsequently,  as  a  result  of  embassies  sent  by  the 
Chera,  the  Chola  and  the  Pandya  Monarchs,  the  volume 
of  India’s  trade  with  Rome  expanded  to  huge  propor¬ 
tions.  1  Thus,  to  quote  Professor  Sylvan  Levi, 
“The  movement  which  carried  Indian  civilisation  to¬ 
wards  different  parts  of  the  globe  about  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  Era  was  far  from  inaugurating  any 
new  route.  Adventures  and  traffickers  and  mis¬ 
sionaries,  profitted  by  the  technical  progress  of 
navigation,  followed,  under  the  best  of  conditions  of 
comfort  and  efficiency,  the  ways  traced  from  time  im¬ 
memorial  by  the  mariners  of  another  race  whom  the 
Aryans  despised  as  savages.”  2  I  wonder  how  the 
ancient  Dravidians  came  to  be  treated  or  even  spoken 
of  as  savages.  Not  even  the  wildest  canons  of  an 
Aryan  poetical  license  will  permit  that  latitude.  To 
put  it  mildly  and  without  any  warmth  of  feeling,  one 
has  to  admit  that  they  had  a  high  civilisation  from 
which  the  Aryans  themselves  had  'to  learn  much. 
It  is  now  established  beyond  question  that  they 
knew  agriculture,  had  coins,  and  used  ornaments 
of  gold  and  silver,  and  weapons  of  iron  and 
bronze.  They  built  forts,  towns  and  temples,  and 
worshipped  Mother  Goddess.  Their  literature  w&s 
rich.  They  built  ships,  navigated  the  seas  and 
carried  their  commodities  and  their  culture1  to  distant 

1.  History  of  the  Tamils ,  p.  195.  Mr.  Warrington’s  Com¬ 
merce  between  the  Roman  Empire  and  India ,  p.  37.  The  published 
{researches  of  Messrs.  G.  E.  Smith,  W.  E.  Schoof,  J.  W.  Jackson, 
W  J.  Perry  and  others  give  ample  proofs  of  the  extreme  anti¬ 
quity  of  the  intercourse  between  South  India  and  other  centres 
of  civilisation.  (Vide  Dr.  G.  Slater’s  Dravidian  Element  in 
Indian  Culture ,  p.  73.) 

2.  The  Pre-Aryan  and  the  Pre- Dravidian  in  India ,  trans¬ 
lated  by  Mr.  P.  C.  Bagchi,  M.  A.,  p.  125. 

3.  Mythic  Society' s  Journal,  Vol.  VI,  p.  157,  quotes  the 
following  from  Tylor’s  Primitive  Cultures  Vol.  I,  p.  1.  Culture  in 
its  broad  sense  is  ‘‘that  complex  whole  which  includes  knowledge, 
belief,  arts,  morals,  law,  custom  and  any  other  capabilities  and 
habits  acquired  by  man  as  a  member  of  society.” 


FOREWORD 


xxi 


lands.1  So  far  as  evidence  is  available,  it  is  now 
certain  that,  from  the  dawn  of  history,  contact  existed 
between  South  India  and  the  Mediterranean  area,  the 
T igris-Euphrates  Valley  and  China,  the  three  other 
foci  of  civilisation.  The  narratives  of  the  travels  and 
voyages  of  Alberuni,  Marco  Polo  and  Vaseo  de  Gama 
in  the  nth,  13th  and  15th  centuries  prove  the  wonder-, 
ful  continuity  of  this  commercial  history.  In  the  3rd 
century  B.  C.,  India  sent  envoys  to  the  Greek  monarchs 
of  Egypt,  Syria,  Macedon,  Cyprus  and  Cyrene.  Cana- 
rese  passages  have  been  found  in  a  Greek  farce  written 
in  an  Egyptian  papyrus.  The  influence  of  India  on 
Chinese  art  and  literature  has  been  intense,  while  the 
civilisation  of  Java  and  Sumatra  is  saturated  with  it. 
The  pageant  of  India’s  commerce  shows  that  within 
historic  times  Peninsular  India  has  been  in  direct 
contact  with  East  Africa,  Somali-land,  Abyssinia, 
Egypt,  Arabia,  Babylonia,  Indonesia  and  China,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  Makran  Coast.  The  panorama  of 
possible  cultural  influences  is  wide. 

Let  us  glance  at  it  for  a  while,  and  see  if  our 
vision  will  carry  us  further  into  the  corridor  of  time.  2 
The  vision  may  not  be  perfect  and  the  sights  may  be 
blurred;  but  the  trial  is  worth  the  taking;  and  it  will  be 
the  duty  of  the  future  historian  to  rectify  the  errors  or 
to  supplement  the  information  by  a  comparative  study 
of  the  materials  and  scripts  now  being  unearthed  in  the 
various  centres  of  the  globe. 

A  little  over  100  years,  Egypt  was  a  sealed  book 
to  the  moderns.  The  Pyramids  stood  four-square  to 
the  sandstorms  of  the  desert  and  the  Sphinx  regarded 

1.  Dravidian  India ,  pp.  161—3. 

2.  ‘‘A  true  historian  does  not  reassemble  the  past  from  its 

broken  fragments,  he  re-creates  it . A  historian  is  as  much 

a  creative  artist  as  is  a  good  scientist,  his  work  is  as  much  an  act 
of  thought.  He  does  not  subscribe  to  the  fantastic  theory  of  an 
objective  past,  ascertainable  and  recordable  by  mere  drudgery, 
the  toil  of  ants.”  The  World  of  Man.  p.  5,  by  Mr.  L.  J.  Cheney, 
M,  A.,  Cambridge  University  Press. 


XX 11 


FOREWORD 


the  Nile  with  the  same  inscrutable  gaze  that  had  puz¬ 
zled  the  ancients*  It  was  the  Rosetta  Stone  that  for 
the  first  time  unfolded  to  us  the  romance  of  Egypt. 
During  the  Napoleonic  war,  it  was  a  sapper  who 
secured  it,  because  it  was  covered  with  strange  writings. 
It  contained  the  picture-writing  of  ancient  Egypt  and 
the  everyday  writing  of  ordinary  people:  It  was  the 
labours  of  Dr.  Young  and  Mr.  Champollion  who  fur¬ 
nished  a  clue  to  the  reading  of  the  mystery  of  the 
Rosetta  Stone,  and  thus  opened  to  the  modern  world 
the  way  to  the  ancient  knowledge  of  Egypt.1 

There  were  some  who  thought  that  this  picture¬ 
writing  which  was  found  in  tombs  and  on  old  papyri 
manuscripts  represented  the  oldest  writing  in  the  world. 
But  the  pictures  clearly  showed  that  they  are  cleverly 
drawn  and  indicated  training  and  true  artistic  percep¬ 
tion.  That  pitch  of  perfection  could  have  been  reached 
only  by  time.  Professor  Flinders  Petrie  has  now 
established  that  crude  signs  preceded  the  picture¬ 
writing.  This  savant  is  an  authority  on  ceramics  and 
can  deduce  amazing  facts  from  a  fragment  of  a  broken 
pot.  Thus  he  has  linked  the  culture  of  Egypt  with 
that  of  Crete,  far  away  in^the  middle  of  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  sea.2  This  view  has  been  confirmed  by  the 
excavations  of  Professor  H.  Schliemann  who  pointed 
to  Knossos  in  Crete  as  the  seat  from  which  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  civilisation  sprang.  His  work  was  taken  up 
by  Sir  Arthur  Evans  whose  toils  were  long  and  un¬ 
remitting-  He  found  that  in  that  little  island,  Crete, 
there  flourished  a  civilisation  as  old  as  that  of  Egypt 

1.  For  materials  of  this  and  of  the  next  three  paragraphs, 
I  am  indebted  to  the  Romance  of  Excavations  by  Mr.  David 
Masters. 

2.  At  the  close  of  the  prehistoric  age,  the  black  pottery 
of  the  late  Neolithic  city  of  Knossos  is  found  in  the  lowest  level 
of  the  temple  at  Abydos.  And  in  the  royal  tombs  of  the  first 
dynasty  there,  many  vases  and  pieces  have  been  found  which  are 
clearly  of  the  earliest  age  of  painted  Aegean  pottery,  (Vol.  I,  p, 
237  of  Harmsmonth’s  History  of  the  World ). 


FOREWORD 


•  •  • 
ZX111 

and  Mesopotamia,  a  civilisation  that  flourished 
at  least  5,000  years  ago,  that  endured  the  ages  before 
the  Phoenicians  launched  their  galleys  in  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean.  Mr.  Banerji,  the  Indian  who  worked  at  the 
Indus  valley  explorations,  has  concluded  that  the  Indian 
culture  has  close  connection  with  Crete  and  the  Aegian 
region.1  Striking  similarities  have  been  observed  be¬ 
tween  the  non-Aryan  Indian  religion  and  those  of  Crete 
and  Asia  Minor.  The  worship  of  the  Mother  Goddess 
is  an  instance  in  point.  The  principal  Minoan  Divinity 
was  a  kind  of  Magna  Mater ,  a  great  mother.2  So 
also  in  cults  and  decorative  motif  and,  to  a  certain 
extent  in  the  scripts  and  languages,  semblances  are 
marked.  It  is  for  these  reasons  that  Dr.  S.  Chatterji 
suggests  that  the  Aegean  Islands,  Asia  Minor  and 
Mesopotamia  might  have  originally  formed  one  cultural 
area.  Aegean  civilisation  was  focussed  in  Crete.  It 
was  of  such  importance  as  to  be  considered  likely  to 
have  exerted  its  influence  on  the  nascent  civilisation  in 
Europe.  Even  Chinese  civilisation  was  regarded  as  an 
offshoot  from  the  Sumerian  stock. 3  But  we  have 
strayed  far  away  from  Egypt.  Let  us  go  back  to  it  for 
a  few  more  moments. 

The  Egyptians  worshipped  the  Sun  for  giving  them 
light  and  the  Nile  for  their  life.  To  the  Sun  they  built 
a  magnificent  temple  at  Helispolis,  and  the  Cleopatra’s 
needle  formed  an  adjunct  to  that  structure.  It  took 
years  and  cost  a  lot  of  money  in  these  days  for  the 
British  for  its  transport  to  the  Thames  Embankment. 
What  a  miracle  that  it  was  made  and  set  up  in  Egypt 
centuries  ago.  It  was  a  standing  monument  of  their 
high  engineering  skill. 

1.  Dravidian  India ,  pp,  36,  41  and  42. 

2.  The  Rise  of  Civilisation  in  Crete ,  by  Professor  F.  Petrie 
in  Harmsworth’s  History  of  the  World.  When  noticing  a  Guide 
to  Knossos ,  a  recent  issue  of  the  London  Times  has  remarked  that 
the  Buckingham  Palace  could  easily  go  into  the  palace  at  Knossos. 

The  worship  of  the  Sun  which  formed  a  feature  of  the  Dravi- 
dians  was  also  prevalent  in  Egypt,  Babylon  and  Peru- 

3.  See  the  aforesaid  Paper  of  Prof.  F.  Petrie;  also  see 
p.  261  of  Vol,  I  of  the  above  Harmsworth's  History. 


XXIV 


FOREWORD 


The  graves  of  Egypt  reveal  the  rise  of  Egypt’s 
civilisation.  Tombs  of  stone  needed  no  search;  there 
are  plenty  of  them;  of  Pyramids  alone  there  are  about 
eighty.  Going  back,  the  brick  tombs  get  smaller  until 
they  disappear  and  only  the  grave  remains  in  which  the 
dead  lie  doubled  up,  as  are  found  in  some  of  the  funer¬ 
ary  urns  of  South  India.1  The  Egyptians  believed  in 
another  world  to  which  the  souls  journeyed  after  they 
leave  their  physical  bodies.  Again,  every  human  being 
was  considered  by  them  to  own  a  double.  These  notions 
necessitated  the  embalming  of  bodies,  their  preservation 
in  durable  tombs,  and  the  provision  for  all  comforts 
during  the  passage  of  the  double  to  the  Egyptian 
heaven.  Hence  the  pyramids.  1,00,000  men  had 
to  slave  for  30  years  to  build  one  of  the  pyra¬ 
mids;  and  Herodotus  says  that  a  sloping  road 
for  the  transport  of  materials  to  that  took  1,00,000 
men  10  years  to  construct.  And  about  the  nature 

of  the  supply  of  the  funeral  equipment,  we  can 
form  some  idea  when  it  is  known  that  the  value  of 
the  contents  of  the  tomb  of  Tutankhamen  is  computed 
at  <£  3,000,000.  There  is  no  wonder  therefore  that  in 
Egypt  grave-stealing  was  cultivated  as  a  fine  art.  To 
rifle  a  tomb,  as  a  rule,  was  considered  a  heinous  sin, 
but  the  robbers  were  prepared  to  undergo  sacrifices  in 
the  next  world  for  the  prospect  of  a  tolerable  life  in  this 
one.  So  a  constant  battle  of  wits  went  on  in  the  Valley 
of  the  Tombs  of  Kings  between  those  who  desired  to 
see  the  tombs  unmolested  and  those  who  desecrated 
them  to  abstract  their  treasures.  We  shall  not  tarry 
over  these,  except  to  note  that,  among  the  finds,  the 
pottery  and  the  tablets  containing  inscriptions  in  Baby¬ 
lonian,  Sumerian  or  the  Phoenician  cuneiform  scripts 

1.  Mythic  Society  Journal ,  Vol.  VI,  p.  165. 

Another  apparent  link  with  the  Mediterranean  area  is  the 
existence  of  prehistoric  dolmen-graves  all  over  Peninsular  India. 
(See  also  the  Article  on  Archaeology  by  Mr.  A-  Govinda  Warrier 
Bo  A  ,  B.  L„  in  the  Progress  of  Cochin ,  p.  277,) 


FOREWORD 


XXV 


throw  a  flood  of  light  on  the  Dravidian  riddle.  The 
reading  by  Dr.  Rawlinson  of  the  cuneiform  inscription 
of  Darius  at  Behistun  in  Persia  and  the  labours  of 
Mr.  Layard  among  the  ruins  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon 
serve  a  similar  end.  Mesopotamia  was  considered 
the  garden  of  Eden.  Letters  written  in  cuneiform 
characters  passed  between  Egypt  and  Mesopota¬ 
mia.  The  original  inhabitants  of  Mesopotamia  was 
Sumerians.  Though  they  were  a  peaceful,  pasto¬ 
ral  people  and  had  a  chequered  career  owing  to  the 
waxing  and  waning  ascendancy  of  Babylon  and 
Assyria,  they  still  stand  out  in  the  dim  past  with  a  cul¬ 
ture  far  higher  than  that  of  their  surrounding  nations. 
Materials  received  ,as  relics  from  the  banks  of  the  Eu¬ 
phrates  and  the  Tigris, — pottery  of  the  best  sort,  fine 
statuettes  in  gold  and  silver,  sealed  weights  of  clay,  and 
laws  inscribed  on  bricks, — all  these  testify  to  the  high 
level  of  their  civilisation. 

There  were  extensive  intercouse  between  South 
India  on  the  one  side  and  Egypt  and  Babylon  and  As¬ 
syria  on  the  other.2  The  great  Egyptologist,  Flinders 
Petrie,  after  having  discovered  portraits  of  Indian  men 
and  women  at  Memphis,  remarks,  “These  are  the  first 
remains  of  Indians  on  the  Mediterranean. .  We  seem 
now  to  have  touched  the  Indian  colony  in  Memphis.”  3 
There  is  a  marked  resemblance  between  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  race  and  the  Dravidian  population. 4  The 

1.  The  Illustrated  London  News  of  November  2  of  1929,  of 
November  29  of  1930,  November  21  of  1931,  of  March  12  of  1932 
and  of  February  11  of  1933,  give  descriptions  of  the  diggings 
at  Ras  Samra,  an  ancient  port  on  the  Bay  of  Minet-el-Beida,  and 
of  the  articles  recovered.  It  was  a  commercial  centre  grown  rich 
in  the  3rd  and  2nd  millenium  B.  C.  by  the  export  to  Egypt  and 
the  Aegean  of  Asiatic  produce  from  Syria  and  Mesopotamia.  Ta 
blets  written  in  the  Babylonian,  syllabic  Sumerian  and  in  the 
Phoenician  cuneiform  alphabetic  scripts  were  got  from  there. 

2.  Indian  Historical  Quarterly ,  Vol.  I,  page  644. 

3.  Visva  Bharathi  of  January  1926,  page  368. 

4.  The  Dravidian  Element  in  Indian  Cultures  ^.Tamilian 
Antiquary  No.  8.  On  the  distribution  of  races  round  about  the 
Persian  Gulf  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Saldana. 


xxvi 


FOREWORD 


Egyptians,  helped  by  Hiram,  the  king  of  Tyre,  and  the 
Hebrew  king,  David,  commenced  their  periodical 
commercial  expeditions  to  Musiris.  1  Earlier 
still,  Moses  refers  to  the  use  in  large  quantities, 
for  religious  worship,  of  cinnamon  and  cassia,  pro¬ 
ducts  peculiar  to  Malabar.  2  The  gates  of  Carthage 
were  made  of  sandalwood  from  the  same  country.  The 
Indian  teak  was  found  in  the  ruins  of  Ur.3  It  must  have 
reached  there  in  the  4th  millenium  B.  C.  when  it  was 
the  seaport  of  Babylon  and  the  capital  of  the  Sumerian 
kings.  This  particular  tree  grows  in  Southern  India 
where  it  advances  close  to  the  Malabar  coast  and  no¬ 
where  else-4  The  word  Ur  itself  is  the  Tamil- Malayalam 
word  Ur,  meaning  a  town.s  “Professor  Elliot  Smith 
reminds  me”,  says  Dr.  Gilbert  Slater,  “the  original 
form  of  the  Mother  Goddess  in  Egypt  was  the  Divine 
cow,  and  that  her  worship  was  of  extreme  importance 
in  Egypt  from  the  4th  Millenium  onwards.”  The  ador¬ 
ation  of  the  Mother  Goddess  and  of  cows  are,  so  to  say, 
the  fundamentals  of  the  Dravidian  religion.  6  Again, 
the  sacred  Bull  in  Egypt  and  the  Nimrods’  Bull  in 
Assyria  find  their  Indian  analogue  in  Siva’s  Bull, 
Nandi.  The  social  institution  of  the  Nsyars,  an  import¬ 
ant  branch  of  the  Dravidians,  are  of  the  type  that  the 
very  extant  Egyptian  literature  depicts  as  there  and 
then  disappearing.  7  There  is  affinity  in  the  scripts 
that  were  in  use  in  the  different  centres.  The  Sume¬ 
rian  language  survives  in  the  script  called  cuneiform. 

1.  Dravidian  India,  p.  133. 

2.  Malabar  Quarterly  Review ,  Vol,  III,  pp.  74  et  seq. 

3.  Indian  Shipping ,  p.  85. 

4.  Ragozin’s  Vedic  India,  p.  305. 

5.  In  Southern  India,  particularly  in  Malabar,  there  are 
several  places  whose  names  end  in  Ur.  Chittur,  Trichur,  Cran- 
ganur  are  all  towns  in  the  State  of  Cochin,  where  there  are  many 
villages  with  Ur  endings — Perumanur,  Ariyannur,  Pazhayannur, 
Kattur,  Ollur,  to  iiame  a  few  at  random.  (See  Madras  Review 
Vol.  I,  p.  349«) 

6.  The  Dravidian  Element  in  India?i  Cultnret  p.  109, 

7.  Dravidian  India ,  p.167. 


FOREWORD 


sxvli 


The  early  Sumerian  writing  was  also  pictorial1  and 
linear.  A  linear  as  well  as  a  semi-pictorial  form  of 
writing  was  diffused  in  Crete  at  a  very  early  period.  The 
Phoenicians  were  familiar  with  the  art  of  Sumerian 
writing  which  they  modified  in  some  ways.  According 
to  Dr.  Burnell,  the  Indian  alphabet  came  direct  from 
Phoenicia.2  His  conclusion  is  that  the  South  Asoka 
alphabet  and  the  Vatteluftu  alphabet,  the  most  ancient 
Tamil  and  almost  the  present  Malayalam  character,  are 
derived  from  the  same  source.3  Dr.  Buhler  says  that 
the  Hindu  traders  may  have  learnt  the  language  from 
Mesopotamia.4  Nicoli  Conti  speaks  of  the  common  use 
of  palm  leaves  and  iron  pen  for  writing,  and  attributes 
the  rounded  style  (Vattelut^u)  to  these  materials.  Vatte- 
l’ujtu  is  a  modification  of  Kole-eIuj:tu;5  and  the  ancient 
chronicles  preserved  in  the  State  Record  Rooms  and  in 
the  archives  of  aristocratic  families  in  Malabar  are  writ¬ 
ten  in  this  character.  The  Pandyans,  it  is  noteworthy, 
seems  to  have  got  their  alphabet  from  the  Cheras.6 

Orientalists,  many  of  them,  are  prepared  to  concede 
that  the  Sumerians,  the  Mediterranean  race,  are  branches 

1.  A  Sumerian  Reading  Book  by  Mr.  C.  J,  Gadd,  Oxford 
University  Press,  pp.  8 — 9.  The  Sumerian  writing  was  a  pictorial 
system  like  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics,  even  though  obscured  by 
the  lineal  style  of  writing.  (Page  263  of  Vol.  I  of  Harmsworth’s 
History  of  the  World). 

2.  Elements  of  South  Indian  Paleography ,  p.  8. 

3.  Madras  Review ,  Vol.  I,  p.  330. 

4.  Indian  Paleography ,  Appendix  to  Vol.  XXXIII  of  the 
Indian  Antiquary ,  p.  16. 

5.  Madras  Manual  of  Administration  Vol.  Ill,  p.462.  Dr. 
Butler  remarks  that  the  letters  of  the  old  Indian  alphabet  are  set 
up  as  straight  as  possible.  (Vide  p.  18  of  th t  Indian  Paleography ). 
I  think  that  is  why  they  are  termed  Kole-eluttu  (Kole=a  stick, 
straight  as  a  stick.)  Perhaps  this  latter  writing  was  in  vogue 
before  the  use  of  the  palm  leaves  and  the  iron  pen.  Before  the 
palm  leaves,  bamboo  splits  were  in  use.  Coch  n  otate  owns  svsL 
records  even  now. 

6.  Indian  Antiquary ,  Vol.  -.XII.  p.  58.  Dr.  M.  Collins  nas 
shown  the  existence  of  a  Dravidic  subtratums  in  the  languages  of 
North  India  ( Dravidian  India ,  p.  77). 


xxviii 


FOREWORD 


of  the  early  Dravidians.  They  also  admit  the  antiquity  of 
the  Dravidian  civilisation.  Then,  why  do  some  of  these 
state,  without  any  qualifying  clause  even,  that  the 
Dravidians  got  their  script  from  the  Phoenicians?  I 
venture  to  say  that  the  level  and  the  antiquity  of  culture 
are  in  favour  of  the  former;  at  any  rate,  all  that  could  be 
safely  predicated  is  that  it  is  difficult,  at  this  distance 
of  time,  to  decide  who  the  lenders  and  who  the  bor¬ 
rowers  were.1  We  shall  stop  here  on  this  topic,  and 
go  on  with  the  general  subject. 

I  referred  to  the  similarities  in  cultures  of  several 
places.  The  resemblance  was  so  remarkable  that 
scholars  grounded  it  on  the  tradition  that  the  Indian 
Ocean  was  once  a  continent,  called  Lemuria,  which 
touched  China,  Africa,  Australia  and  Comorin.  There 
are  vestiges  of  this  culture  even  in  America.  Traces 
of  Indian  culture  have  been  found  in  the  Phillippines, 
and  some  scholars  believe  that  the  Maya  culture  of 
Central  America  has  an  Indo=Polynesian  background.  2 
In  the  old  world,  Mr.  Wells  writes  in  his  History,  3 
before  4000  or  5000  B.  C.,  there  were  primitive  civili¬ 
sations- not  unlike  this  (Maya)  civilisation,  civilisations 
based  upon  a  temple*  having  a  vast  quantity  of  blood 
sacrifices  with  an  intensely  astronomical  priesthood. 
The  diffusion  of  cultivated  plants  affords  pregnant 
evidence  of  cultural  connection. Tobacco,  chillies,  sweet 
potatoes,  ground-nut,  cashewnut,  the  guava,  the  papaw 
have  all  been  introduced  from  the  American  continents; 

1.  The  origin  of  Vatteluttu  still  remains  an  unsolved 
mystery.  ( Mythic  Society  Journal ,  Vol,  VI,  p.  171). 

2.  History  of  India  and  Indonesian  Art  by  Dr.  A.  K. 
Coomaraswami,  p.  156. 

3.  History  of  the  World,  by  Mr.  H.  G.  Wells,  p.  48.  It 
looks  as  if  Mr.  Wells  is  describing  a/Bhadrakali  shrine  of  old 
Malabar.  Why  should  I  say  old  ?  Even  now,  specimens  of  this 
sort  exist.  See  Volume  III  of  the  History  of  Kerala%  p.  180.  I 
remember  to  have  read  in  an  old  number  of  an  American  Journal 
on  Anthropology  an  article  from  Sir  J.  Johnstone  in  which  he 
speaks  of  a  tribe  of  Indians  in  the  interior  of  South  America, 
called  Nairre,  who  have  structures  like  Malabar  temples. 


FOREWORD 


xxix 


but,  as  Mr.  Richards  puts  it,  the  chain  of  transmission  is 
so  long  that  their  evidentiary  value  is  reduced  to  a  mi¬ 
nimum.1  Not  so  in  the  case  of  China.  To  the  command¬ 
ing  influence  which  Buddhism  exerted  over  the  destinies 
of  China,  recorded  history  bears  eloquent  testimony  ; 
and  Buddhism  went  there  from  India.  The  number  of 
Indian  scholars  who  were  taken  there  for  teaching  that 
religion  and  translating  works  allied  to  it  is  legion. 
China  was  known  to  its  people  as  Fien  Hsia.  Another 
of  its  early  names  was  Cathay.  The  name  China 
Dr.  Legge  states  it  got  from  India  through  Buddhism. 
Nothing  certain  is  known  of  the  origin  of  the  Chinese 
people.  Some  consider  them  to  be  descended  from 
Accadians,  relying  among  other  evidence  upon  the 
similarity  of  the  earliest  Chinese  writing  to  the  cunei¬ 
form  script.2  Aiiother  alternative  suggested  is  that 

1.  Mythic  Society's  Journal ,  Vol.  VI,  p.  163. 

Indian  maritime  activities  have  to  be  correlated  in  due 
time  with  the  culture  developed  in  Oceania  where,  in  distant  New 
Zealand,  traditions  survive  of  a  migration  from  Hawaiki,  identi¬ 
fied  with  India.  (Page  158  of  the  Suppy.  Vol.  I  of  the  Ency, 
Britannica .) 

Strabo  (A.  D.  20)  speaks  of  a  hereditary  caste  in  Arabia 
Felix  with  customs  and  practices  similar  to  those  of  the  people 
of  Malabar.  ( Malabar  Quarterly  Review  Vol.  Ill,  p.  76.  Christian 
College  Mdg.  Vol.  V,  p.  278.) 

In  his  Indo-European  Folk-Tales  and  Greek  Legends  Mr. 
W.  R.  Halliday  speaks  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  West  to 
the  East  and  refers  to  a  marked  predominance  of  diffusion  from 
the  East  of  folklore. 

2,  See  the  chapter  on  China  by  Mr.  Max  Von  Brandt  in 
Vol.  2,  beginning  on  page  709  of  Harmsworth’s  History  of  the 
World .  Canon  Taylor  in  his  work  on  the  Alphabet  shows  that  the 
old  alphabets  of  Korea  and  Japan  were  of  Indian  origin.  (II,  348 
f).  Also  see  Perry’s  Children  of  the  Sun ,  p.  560.  Mr.  Von  Brandt’s 
remarks  on  China  deserve  a  wide  publicity:  “Of  the  early  empires 
of  Western  Asia,  none  survived  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  era. 
In  the  west,  the  civilisations  of  Greeks  and  Romans  arose  and 

crumbled.^ . But,  in  the  far  east,  there  lives  to-day  an  Empire, 

vast  in  extent,  painfully  populous,  a  civilisation  complex,  elabo¬ 
rate,  artificial  to  a  degree,  and  tracing  back  its  unbroken  history 


XXX 


FOREWORD 


the  original  home  of  the  first  emigrants  into  China  was 
in  the  valley  of  the  Tarim,  where  they  may  have  come 
into  contact  with  Accadian  and  Indian  civilisation. 

The  worship  of  the  ancestors,  and  the  feudal  form 
of  early  rule,  which  one  of  the  ancient  monarchs  of 
China  attempted  to  smother  by  a  conflagration  of  books 
turn  our  thoughts  to  Dravida.  It  is  even  hinted  that 
it  is  the  Indian  sea-trade  with  China  or  Cathay  that 
entailed  a  chain  of  ports  of  call  along  the  Malay  Penin¬ 
sula  and  the  Indo-Chinese  Archipelago,  in  both  of 
which  the  art  and  architecture  exhibit  the  profound 
influences  of  Dravidian  civilisation.1 

There  is  an  idea  abroad  that  it  is  not  so  much 
the  trade  but  it  is  Buddhism  which  is  responsible  for 
the  Hindu  colonies  to  the  east  of  India.  Buddhistic 
faith,  says  an  Indologist,  became  the  one  pure  civilising 
influence  in  Java,  Celebes  and  the  adjacent  islands,  and 
also  in  Burma,  Siam  and  Cambodia.  From  thence  it 
was  carried  onwards  along  the  sea-border  to  China. 
Korea  and  Japan.2  For  purposes  of  argument,  I  shall 
for  the  present  grant  this.  But  this  will  not  militate 
against  my  contention.  For  the  Jains  and  the  Buddhas 
wandered  to  South  India  in  great  numbers  for  the  pro¬ 
pagation  of  their  religion  and  in  search  of  lonely  haunts 
for  the  practice  of  meditation.3  The  kingdoms  of 
Chera,  Chola  and  Ps^dya  were  in  diplomatic  relation 
with  Asoka.4 

beyond  the  date  at  which  the  Hebrew  historian  fixed  the  Deluge 
....  ...A  strange  people — a  stagnant  people  to  western  eyes— as 
the  Chinaman  lived  in  the  days  of  Confucius,  so  he  has  lived  for 
5  times  500  years.  So  he  lives  to-day — in  all  essentials  unchanged 
— apart.  But  the  West  is  knocking  at  his  gates.” 

1.  Mr.  Waddell  on  the  Sumerian  Origin  of  the  Egyptian 
Civilisation  and  Hieroglyphics,  p,  70. 

Fa  Hian  speaks  of  going  from  Java  to  Canton  with  200 
Hindu  traders  on  board.  ( Indian  Culture  in  Java  and  Sumatra 
by  Dr.  B.  R.  Chatterji,  D.  Litt.,  Fh.  D.) 

2*  Visva  Bharathi  Quarterly  of  ,1926  April,  p.  68; 

3.  History  of  the  2amils%  p.  143. 

4.  Mythic  Society  Journal %  Vol.  VI,  p.  165. 


FOREWORD 


XXXI 


Buddhism  had  a  long  and  glorious  innings  in 
Kerala.  The  Buddhistic  Sanyasins  went  about  preach¬ 
ing  their  religion,  built  viharas  and  spent  a  good 
portion  of  their  time  in  curing  diseases  and  spreading 
education  among  the  people  here-  The  Nayars  took  to 
the  new  faith  with  eagerness.  ‘‘Under  the  kind  care 
and  tutelage  of  the  Buddha  Sanyasins,  the  Nayars 
attained  a  marvellous  degree  of  scholarship  and  acute¬ 
ness  in  all  branches  of  Indian  Sciences.  They  became 
religious  teachers  and  preachers  *,  and  some  attained 
fame  as  authors  as  well”. 

i.  See  the  learned  Introduction  to  Rasa  Vaiseshika  Sutra 
by  Dr.  K.  Sankara  Menon,  M.  A.,  L'.  T.,  Ph.  D.,  No.  8  of  the 
i Sri  Vanchi  Setu  Lekshmi  Series ,  Travancore  Government  Press. 
Dr.  Sankara  Menon  says  ‘Bhadanta  Nagarjuna,  the  author  of  the 
work,  must  have  been  a  Buddistic  Sanyasin  of  Kerala,  educated 
and  trained  by  Buddhists.  The  word  Bhadanta  occurs  in  Varaha 

Mihira’s  Brahat  Jataka . This  appellation  Bhadanta  (=  a  man 

possessing  white  shining  teeth.  The  Buddha  Sanyasins  are  for¬ 
bidden  to  chew  betel.)  is  perhaps  added  to  the  name  Nagarjuna 
to  distinguish  him  from  others  who  bore  a  similar  or  same  name. 
Naga  is  a  common  name  assumed  by  Nayars  of  Kerala.  The 
popularity  of  the  name  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Nayars  of 
Malabar  who  were  of  Dravidian  origin  were  worshippers 
of  Nagas  (serpents).  That  the  Nayars  of  Kerala  went,  in 

those  ancient  days,  to  such  remote  educational  centres  as  Vijaya- 

* 

nagar,  Kashmere,  Kasi,  etc.,  can  be  borne  out”.  It  is  an  Indian 
monk  Nagasena  that  is  sent  to  China  by  the  Kambujan  King 
Jayavarma  (484  A.  D.).  Re  Nagas  and  Nayars,  See  pp.  29  and 
77  of  Bhasha  Sahithya  Charithram  by  Mr.  R.  Narayana  Panikkar, 
B.  A. 

“o^a/laejo  (8T0d3asejsQQ)Qj(&  rooc&coro,  002  0(0  6)  gp  <ato 

QJd9h5)©gyO  (BT^sIc&OaiOCOTO)  aJ(036TDO5  65(03*  03) 6)00  £}  c&0(0)o  60cft>0 6Ylf 

co)0flsg>aj(5)o  6)<&o§<grq)  o^crro  6r’.aJogjlce)©).,> 

( 63 (03  a4(0  0(0)  (2tft>(0eg,0g](0T0)'l). 

t*a®«09(OKJ)'ls6)(2i  (cfoQ£^<aa°)  c9>(03QJOaDaOOcft>©YO)Oa© 
ftaOQ^OTo/ls©®  6X2 cwl  02) 000  00 Oc93(OTO)0 6) (0 

©aJOQo/i(aro/ls©<o  (<9jgg.o20®©)  ©aj  os'!  coo  <000  aooc9i caroms)© 
«3)(OKj/la®coo£yo  aje&Oo  ©t&oens  aooc&oiRsoa© 

•aO<sro>1  ®coro)l  ®®<&  s  aoo<9>®K»oa© 


XXX11 


FOREWORD 


The  worship  of  Gods  in  Temples  was  unknown  to 
the  vedic  religion.  The  Hindus  gradually  copied  this 
from  the  Buddhists  who  began  to  build  viharas  and  set 
up  images  of  Buddha  in  these  for  purposes  of  adoration 
and  meditation.  These  viharas  were  also  centres  of 
learning,  and  there  was  a  great  university  at  Matila- 
kam,  near  Cranganur,  where  at  one  time  the  Vidval- 
Sabha  1  was  presided  over  by  Ilan-ko-Adigal,  the 
author  of  Silappadhik^rom,2  and  the  brother  of  the  great 
Chera  ruler,  Sem  Kuttuvan.  Ilan-ko-Adigal  became 
a  Buddhistic  ascetic  and  lived  in  a  Chaitya3  near 
Matilakam. 


The  treatment  that  is  in  these  days  given  to  luna¬ 
tics  in  Tiruvidai  and  to  lepers  in  Takali  temples  in 
Travancore  are  reminiscent  of  Buddhistic  times.  For 
Hindu  temples  do  not  prescribe  or  dispense  medicines. 

But  when  Buddhism  was  on  the  wane,  the  viharas 
were  converted  into  temples-  Sssfha  is  a  Sanscrit 
synonym  for  Buddha,  and  one  meets  with  any  number 
of  temples  dedicated  to  Sastha  in  Kerala,  especially  in 

QJ  *1(0  (0  0  CO  CT)0c9j(OTO)06)(O 

oj "laBOT)  s> ajaas  aojgjo  cr)0ca>(uro>oa<o 

ajgjaao  eajoa&j)  acugjoo  ago <bqo  ^co> cno<d> 

(OT3)0a<D 


ojspqq)  qjo§°) 

1.  The  Assembly  of  the  Wise,  a  sort  of  witenagemot,  to 
direct  studies,  to  enact  laws  and  even  to  give  the  last  word  on 
political  matters. 

2.  Manimekhala  and  Silappadhikaram  are  two  of  the 
Panchamahakavyas,  five  great  epics,  of  the  Tamil  literature.  The 
former  is  by  Chittala  Chattanar,  a  great  friend  of  the  author  of 
the  other  work.  It  describes  the  circumstances  under  which-  the 
heroine,  Manimekhala,  the  daughter  of  Kovilan,  a  rich  merchant, 
renounced  the  world  and  took  the  vows  of  Buddhism.  She  comes 
to  Matilakam,  near  Vanchi,  to  complete  her  studies  and  to  wor¬ 
ship  Kannaki,  her  step-mother,  whose  image  had  been  set  up  in 
the  temple  now  well-known  as  the  Cranganur  Bhadrakali  temple,* 
The  o*her  kavya  commemorates  the  lives  of  Kovilan  and  of 
Kannaki.  See  the  writer’s  article  on  Matilakam  in  Dr.  Law's 
Histerial  Review ,  Calcutta,  Vol.  V.  p.  138* 

3.  Chaitya  is  from  chita,  a  funeral  pyre.  These  Chaityas 
gradually  became  places  of  worship  like  the  graves  of  kussalman 
Saints, 


FOREWORD 


xxxi'ri 

that  line  of  hills  to  the  east  of  the  backwater  system 
where  the  ancestors  of  the  Nsyars  lived.1 

Atr  the  time  of  the  religious  revival  in  Malabar, 
Nayars  accepted  the  Hindu  faith  with  warmth  and 
devotion;  and  to-day  one  will  find  in  Malabar  no  more 
pious  worshippers  of  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  the 
Hindu  Pantheon  than  the  Nayars. 

Thus,  even  if  it  be  the  faith  and  not  the  trade  that 
carried  the  Indian  culture  to  Java  and  other  parts,  the 
claim  of  the  Dravidians  need  not  become  the  less  force¬ 
ful.  But  I  would  still  contend  that  it  was  the  trade  and 
the  worldly  gain  and  not  the  faith  and  the  life  beyond 
that  made  the  Dravidians  face  the  risk  of  voyages  in 
unchartered  seas.2  No  doubt,  theirs  was  a  peaceful  i 
penetration  and  gradual  colonisation  and,  in  latter  days, 
a  temple  was  one  of  the  first  steps  in  gaining  their 
ends.  3 

Our  earliest  information  about  Java,  writes  a  com¬ 
petent  authority,  can  be  traced  to  Indian  traders-  They 
gave  the  princes  the  power  to  enhance  their .  revenues 
by  trade.  They  had  no  small  share  in  the  work  of 
political  consolidation.  Indian  culture  organised  the 

1.  See  the  writer’s  article  on  the^Kilirur  Temple.  in  the’ist 
No.  of  the  ist  Vol.  of  the  Rama  Varma  Research  Institute  Bulletin. 
Government  Press,  Cochin  State.  “At  the  time  of  the  revival  of 
Hinduism”  says  Dr.  S.  Menon  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Rasa 
Vaiseshika  Sutra  “many  works  of  Buddhists  were  burnt  and  the 
Sanyasins  had  to  leave  Kerala  with  their  works  in  a  body  to 
avoid  sharing  a  similar  fate.”  Both  Keralolpathi  and  Kerala 
mahatmyam  speak  of  a  severe  contest  between  Buddhism  and 
Brahminisra  for  supremacy  in  Malabar  {Madras.  Review  Vol.  VI, 

P.  344-) 

2.  Mr.  Keul  Weule  writes  in  Vol.  IV,  p.  142 1-2  of  the 
Harmsworth’s  History  of  the  World— •' All  the  nations  which  ven¬ 
tured  out  on  to  the  Indian  Ocean  in  times  known  to  history  were 

induced  chiefly  by  commercial  objects  to  make  such  voyages . 

The  magnet  which  chiefly  attracted  navigators  into  this  ocean 
was  the  peninsula’  of  India.” 

3.  Page  28  of  the  Hindu  Colony  of  Cambodia  by  P.  N. 

Bose,  M.  A. 


xxxiv 


FOREWORD 


constitution,  made  laws  and  introduced  writing,  inscrip¬ 
tions  and  ruins;  and  the  accounts  of  Fa  Hian  testify  to 
these*  Oldest  traces  of  the  Hindus  have  been  found  in 
West  Java,  There  must  have  been  a  Kingdom  in  that 
part  whose  monarch  was  favourable  to  the  new  religion. 
It  is  possible  that  the  Buddhists  then  appeared.1 

The  immigrants  from  India,  continues  the  same 
writer,  seemed  completely  to  have  assumed  the  lead  in 
Sumatra  and  to  have  created  a  feudal  kingdom  quite  in 
the  Indian  style-2  Bsli  and  Borneo  were  profoundly 
influenced  by  the  Indian  culture.*  Malayism  is  always 
predominant  in  the  Philippines;  and  the  key  to  the 
ancient  ancestry  of  the  Australians  we  find  in  the  still 
existing  trade  of  the  Malays  on  the  north  coast  of  that 
continent. 

Mr.  Fournereau  has  collected  the  six  names  of  the 
Indian  colonies  after  the  annals  of  Luang-Phrabang;4 

(1)  YavanadSSa (north  of  the  peninsula,  comprising 
Me-Kong)  with  Chudafiagari  as  capital; 

(2)  ChampadeSa  (land  of  Chams,  south-east  from 
Hui  to  sea)  with  ChampSpuri  (Annam)  as 
capital ; 

1.  See  Ibe  Chapter  on  The  Islands  of  Malaysia  and  their 
Story  in  the  Harmsworth’s  History  of  the  Worlds  beginning  on 
p.  406. 

2.  Dravidian  India ,  p.  915. 

3.  Ibid.  p.  919. 

4.  The  Indian  Colony  of  Siam  by.  Mr.  P.  N.  Bose,  M.  A. 

Mr.  J.  Campbell  says  that  Kera  is  the  land  of  the  Hittites. 
Some  say  that  Syria  is  a  Greek  ada  ptation  of  Kera,  Etruscan  Kara, 
Japanese  Kori  (Korea),  old  Kars.  Yet 'another  set  of  people  think 
that  one  can  hear  of  the  echo  of  Nayar  in  Navarese  and  Naharci, 
the  Scythic  Neuri,  Nairi  of  the  Assyrians,  and  the  Nahanti, 
Navatl,  or  Niquirians  of  America.  (. Report  of  the  Travancore 
Jcnmi-Kutiyan  Committee ,  presided  over  by  Mr.  Justice  Raman 
Tharapi,  B.  A.,  M.  L.,  pages  46  and  62). 

The  similarity  in  the  expression  of  the  countenance  of  the 
Bengalis  and  the  Nayars,  in  their  custom  and  manners  and  in  the 
development  of  their  respective  languages  and  literatures,  is 
remarkable. 


FOREWORD 


XXXV 


(3)  KambojadeSa  (whole  of  Camboja  or  Cambodia 
with  the  gulf  of  Siam  as  limit); 

(4)  SySmade&a  (north-west — Siam  up  to  Sa¬ 
lonen); 

(5)  Rsma^yadeSa  (Pegu  and  part  of  Burma); 

(6)  MalayadeSa  (same  position  as  now). 

Indian  contact  with  Indonesian  lands  may  have  been 
made  centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  Suvarijabhumi 
(Sumatra)  is  mentioned  in  the  Jstakas,  the  Epics  and  the 
MahsvamSa.  Sugrlva  refers  to  Java  (Yavadwlpa)  when 
he  sends  out  searching  parties  in  quest  of  Sits.1  Rulers 
with  Indian  names  (Varma)2  and  using  an  Indian 
language  are  early  met  with  in  Champa,  Cambodia, 
Sumatra  and  even  Borneo. 3  Even  in  such  a  remote 
area  as  Vocanh  in  Annan,  there  is  an  inscription  in  an 
early  South  Indian  script.4  From  a  study  of  Ma^ime- 
khala  it  may  be  inferred  that,  before  the  Christian 
era,  the  Dravidians  traded  with  the  islands  of  Java, 
Sumatra  and  also  Malaya.*  An  archaic  Tamil  inscrip¬ 
tion  in  Siam  tells  how  the  Indian  merchants  used 
to  go  to  trade  and  settle  down  there  in  early  days. 
Reference  is  made  in  that  to  Nar^ijam,  a  Vishnu  temple, 
as  the  refuge  of  the  members  of  Ma^igrsmam  and  of 
the  members  of  the  detachment  and  of  the  bowmen.6 

1.  Indian  Culture  in  Java  and  Sumatra  by  Dr.  B.  R. 

Chatter  ji. 

2.  The  term  Varma  occurs  in  the  names  of  all  the  male 
members  of  the  Ruling  Family  of  Cochin. 

3.  History  of  India  and  Indonesian  Art,  p.  15O. 

4.  Ibid.  p.  195. 

In  old  Siam,  a  great  literary  monk  is  called  Nankitti.  It 
may  be  a  variant  of  Nanukkutti,  a  very  common  name  among 
Nayars.  This  supposition  gains  strength  when  it  is  remembered 
that  his  monastery  was  called  Panasarama,  a  garden  of  jack  trees. 
This  variety  of  trees  is  invariably  found  in  every  garden  of  a 
Nayar’s  house. 

5.  Sen  Tamilt  Vol.  5,  p,  419. 

C.  Indian  Colony  of  Siam  by  P,  N.  Bose,  M.  A. 


XZZV1 


FOREWORD 


Ma^igrSmam  is  a  seat  of  the  early  trading  community 
in  Cochin;  and  Anchuvamtam,  an  ancient  Jewish  settle¬ 
ment  there,  and  ManigrSmam  are  mentioned  in  some 
old  copper-plates.  The  Takopa  inscription  in  Siam 
leaves  the  construction  of  a  temple  tank  there  to  the 
custody  of  a  committee  of  people  known  by  the  name 
of  SenSmukham,  ManigrSmam  and  Chsppattsr.  The 
first  of  these  words  perhaps  refers  to  the  leaders  of  the 
army,  while  the  last  word  is  peculiar  to  Malabar,  and 
means  a  class  of  people  who  have  pledged  themselves 
to  the  king’s  cause  ;  men  who  have  undertaken  to  die 
(Malayalam:  Chsvsan  etftfavar)  for  their  king.1 

Professor  Bloch  says  that  the  South  Dravidian  is 
the  vehicle  of  an  old  civilisation.  That  general  remark 
is  borne  out  by  facts.  Mr.  Purnalingam  in  his  sketch 
of  the  Tamil  literature  states  that  a  corrupt  form 
of  Tamil  was  current  in  Java,  Sumatra  and  other 
isles  of  the  Indian  Archipelago.  All  the  Alphabets 
of  Cambuja  up  to  the  time  of  Yasovarma  have  been  un- 
mistakeably  of  the  South  Indian  type.2 

So  also  the  art  and  architecture  of  Indo-China  and 
Malayan  Archipelagos  According  to  the  opinion  of 
accepted  authorities,,  there  are  many  features  in  the 
temples  that  are  distinctly  Dravidian.  The  pyramidal 

1.  From  an  article  on  Evidences  of  South  Indian  Culture 
in  Indonesia  by  Professor  S.  V.  Viswanath,  M.  A.,  in  India  ctnd 
the  World ,  a  Journal  edited  by  Dr.  Kalidas  Nag,  M.  A.,  D.  Litty, 
of  Calcutta,  Vol.  II,  p.  76.  Lands  free  of  tax  used  to  be  given  to 
the  families  of  the  Chavettu  Panikkars  in  Cochin.  Even  now  the 
writer  knows  of  a  family  who  still  owns  such;lands.  See  also  the 
Book  of  Durate  Barbosa  Vol.  II,  p.  48. 

1 

2.  Indian  Cultural  Influence  in  Cambodia  by  Dr.  B.  R. 
Chatterji,  D.  Litt.,  Ph.  D.,  p.  109. 

*  3.  Art  of  India  and  Java  by  Dr.  Vogel  in  Influences  of 
Indian  Art ,  p.  69.  Ferguson,  Vol.  I,  p.  310.  Indian  Colony  of 
Siamt  by  Mr.  P.  N.  Bose,  M.  A.  In  a  recent  lecture  by  Countess 
de  Coral-Remusat  on  Indian  Influences  in  the  Architecture  ana 
Decoration  of  Khemer  Temples'\  she  has  fully  shown  that  the  art 
and  architecture  of  ancient  Cambodia  are  largely  derived  from 
those  of  India,  (The  Hindu  of  June  26,  1933,  p.  6), 


FOREWORD 


xxxvii 


character,  the  profusion  of  external  ornaments  in  high 
relief,  the  edifices  akin  to  the  South  Indian  gopura,  the 
vimsna,  the  spirit  of  toleration  indicated  by  the  pictures 
and  sculptures,  may  be  cited  to  illustrate  and  to  fortify 
the  contention.  The  temple  at  Borobudur,  which  is 
built  on  the  plan  of  the  Chakra,  an  instrument  most 
prevelant  in  connection  with  the  D5vi  worship  in 
Malabar,  is  another  instance  in  point.1 

The  worship  of  Siva  and  the  Mother  Goddess 
which  commonly  prevailed  in  those  parts  confirms  the 
Dravidian  contact.  One  of  the  ports  of  South  Annan, 
Nhantrang,  is  towered  above  by  a  brick  shrine  dedi¬ 
cated  to  Bhagavati.2  The  word  Chandi  occurs  in 
almost  all  the  temple  structures  in  Java,  indicative  of 
the  influence  of  the  non-Aryan  Ksii  worship.  The 
presence  of  the  caste  system,  the  inheritance  in  the 
female  line,  and  the  belief  in  magic  points  to  the  same 
direction.  The  caste  system  and  the  worship  cf 
Ksli,  Siva,  Vi§hnu,  Psrvati,  Subrahma^ia  and  Ga$<f£a 
are  of  Dravidian  origin.  Even  now  the  system  of 
caste  is  powerful  in  South  India,  particularly  in  Kfrala. 
Luxury,  the  use  of  magic,  superior  architectural 
skill,  and  the  ability  to  restore  the  dead  to  life,  the 
Sanscrit  writings  ascribe  to  Dravidian  Daityas.3  I 
believe  I  need  not  stress  this  aspect  of  the  question 
further.  I  shall,  therefore,  devote  the  rest  of  this 
paper  to  consider  who  among'  the  old  South  Indians 
were  mostly  responsible  for  the  diffusion  of  the  Dravi¬ 
dian  Culture. 

Mention  is  made  of  the  Kgralas  in  the  Mahsbhgrata 
and  the  Rsmsya^a  and  also  in  the  Vsyu,  Matsya  and 
Msrkandeya  PurSrtas.4  At  the  dawn  of  history  in 
Southern  India,  we  see  the  Chola,  the  KSrala  and  the 

1.  Professor  S.  V.  Viswanathan,  M.  A.f  in  Indian  and  the 
World ,  p.  159  seq. 

2,  Hindu  Kingdoms  in  Hindu  China  by  Professor  L.  Finot, 
Vol.  I,  p.  603. 

3.  The  Dravidian  Element  in  Indian  Culture ,  pp.  go — 54. 

4,  Malabar  Quarterly  Review ,  Vol.  II,  p.  n. 


xxxviii 


FOREWORD 


Ps^dyan  Kingdoms  sharing  the  country  among  them. 
The  Chgra  or  the  Kerala  Kingdom  had  as  high  an 
antiquity  as  the  Pandya  and  Chola.  States.1  Megas- 
thenes  has  left  us  a  descriptive  account  of  these  three 
kingdoms*  He  refers  to  Naroe,  by  which  term  he  calls 
the  Nayars.2  In  the  Asoka  Edict,  Kerala  is  mentioned 
not  as  a  subjugated  territory  but  as;  a  Pratyanta> 
bordering  country. 

Certain  areas  of  the  world,  remarks  Mr.  Richards 
“in  his  paper  on  the  Dr avidian  Problem ,  are  blessed 
with  certain  products  that  are  wanted  elsewhere.  Of 
these  the  pepper  of  Malabar  is  a  sample,  and  in  a  sense 
the  History  of  Europe  is  the  History  of  the  Malabar 
pepper  trade.  The  Trade  and  the  Trade  Routes  have 
continued  for  milleniums,  all  that  changes  is  the 
traders.3 

Malabar  coast  afforded  one  of  the  most  convenient 
landing  places  for  ships;  and  Musiris,  described  by 
Pliny  as  primum  emporium  Indiae  was  one  of  the 
famous  emporiums  much  frequented  by  foreign  mer¬ 
chants.  It  is  the  Muziris  of  the  Greek  geographers,  the 
Muchiri  of  the*  Tamil  poets  and  the  Kodungallur  (Cran- 
ganoor)  of  modern  days.  The  Egyptians,  the  Phoeneci- 
ans,  the  Greeks  and  the  Romans  came  to  Cranganoor 
for  commercial  purposes.  The  Jews,  the  Muslims  and 

1.  Dr  avidian  India ,  p.  1 86. 

Dr.  Sewell  on  p.  i  of  his  Sketch  of  South  Indian  Dynasties 
states  that  these  kingdoms  were  in  existence  as  early  as  the  4th 
century  B.  C.  Among  certain  western  savants  there  is  a  tendency 
to  modernise  everything  Indian.  Limurike  or  Damurike  has  been 
shown  by  Dr.  Caldwell  to  represent  Dravida  or  the  Tamil- 
Malayalam  Country.  ( Malabar  Quarterly  Review ,  Vol,  II,  p,  12). 

2.  Ancient  India ,  as  described  by  Megasthenes,  by 
Me  Crindle,  p.  146. 

3.  Mythic  Society  Journal  Vol.  VI,  p.  16 1, 

4.  Malabar  Quarterly  Review ,  p,  352. 

Ma  Huan  (1409)  is  the  first  to  refer  to  Cochin.  Nicolo 
Conti  (144°)  followed  him,  a  century  after  the  formation  of  the 
Cochin  Harbour, 


FOREWORD  xxxix 

the  Christians  alike  claim  it  as  their  first  settlement.1 

This  tract  of  land,  known  as  Kerala,  with  Malaya 
Parvata  on  the  one  side  and  Paschima  Sagara  on  the 

x.  There  was  a  Grecian  colony  of  Byzantium  on  the 
Malabar  coast,  while  the  Romans  had  in  Cranganoor  a  force  of 
about  2,000  men  to  protect  their  trade.  There  was  a  temple  there 
erected  in  honour  of  Agustus.  (Dravidian  India ,  pp.  140— i). 

Pepper,  cassia,  sandal-wood,  teak,  ivory,  and  gold  were  ex¬ 
ported  from  there.  (. Dravidian  lndiat  p.  143). 

Hebrew  Tuki  is  the  old  Tamil-Malayalam  Tokai .  (Dr. 
Caldwell’s  Comparative  Grammar  of  the  Dravidian  Languages ). 
So  also  Hebrew  Ahalim  is  Tamil  Malayalam  Akil.  The  Algum 
tree  of  Hiram’s  shipmen,  according  to  Professor  Max  Muller,  is 
Valgukat  sandal-wood,  which  is  found  chiefly  in  Malabar. 
(« Science  of  Language ,  Vol.  I,  p  232).  Greek  Oryza  (rice)  is 
Tamil-Malayalam  Ansi ,  Ari ;  Greek  pepperi  is  similarly  pippdl 
(Dr.  Oppert  on  the  Ancient  Commerce  of  India  p.  37);  while  the 
Greek  Zingiber  is  lnchi  (ginger).  (. Madras  Review ,  Vol.  I,  p. 
336),  Mr.  Warington  writes  that  South  India  supplies  of  Rome 
were  sent  from  Musiris  and  Nelcyuda  (Nilkanda,  that  is  Kallada, 
near  Quilon).  Aromatics  and  spic,es  were  the  chief  plant-products 
from  South  India  to  Rome.  Pepper  was  called  Yavanapriya,  dear 
to  the  Romans.  It  was  to  them  more  important  than  salt  or  sugar. 
He  refers  to  an  Indian  remedy  made  of  pepper,  and  also  to  the  uses 
of  the  gingelly  oil  and  of  teak  wood  of  Malabar.  ( Commerce  be - 
tween  the  Roman  Empire  and  India%  see  pp.  163,  1S2  ,  206,  213 
and  214). 

Drs.  Burnell,  Caldwell  and  Gundert  have  identified  Musiris 
with  Kodungallur  (Cranganore),  and  the  doubt  now  seems  to  be 
settled  by  a  consensus  of  opinion  of  orientalists  of  all  shades  of 
views.  (. Madras  Revtew,  Vol.  I,  p.  338).  Pliny’s  warning  that 
Musiris  port  is  infested  by  pirates  did  not  affect  the  trade  or  the 
immigrants.  The  piratical  character  of  the  early  Malayalis  was 
notorious.  Who  knows  it  may  be  that  the  daring  engendered  by 
that  sort  of  hazardous  and  strenuous  life  that  nerved  them  to  go 
far  and  to  found  colonies.  (History  of  Kerala ,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  181), 

Regularity  of  monsoons  in  the  Indian  Ocean  gave  impetus  to 
the  Roman  trade.  Hippalos  found  this  and  ships  began  to  sail 
direct  to  the  port  of  the  Musiris.  ( Dravidian  Inaia ,  p.  117).  J)r, 
Oppert,  however,  considers  that  Hippalos  simply  rediscovered  the 
south-west  monsoon,  which,  he  says,  was  known  to  the  Phoeneci- 
ans.  ( Ancient  Commerce  of  Indiat  p,  28). 


xl 


FOREWORD 


other,  evolved  a  culture,  unique  in  its  own  way. 

Almost  every  ancient  civilisation  will  be  found  to 
be  bottomed  in  a  river.  Here  we  have  the  PeriySr. 
.The  very  first  river  mentioned  by  Ptolemy  in  Sera 
(Chgra,  Kerala)  country  (called  by  him  Dymirike)  is  the 
Pseudostomos  (false  mouth),  because  the  Periyar  does 
not  enter  the  sea  direct  but  loses  itself  in  the  back¬ 
water,  very  near  Musiris.  A  gam  and  Purananuru  sing 
of  the  beautiful  ships  of  the  yavanas  disturbing  the 
white  foam  of  the  fair  Periyar  of  the  Seralas.1 

Nsyars  and  the  Namputiris  are  the  two  classes  of 

i,  P.  360  of  Dr.  S.  K.  AyyangaPs  Some  Contributions  of 
South  India  to  Dravidian  Culture.  Ag am,  149,  11.  7 — 12.  Purana¬ 
nuru,  343,  11.  1 — 10  Agam  describes  a  Karur  town.  In  the 
Keralotpathy ,  Karoor  is  mentioned  as  the  capital  of  one  of  the 
Che  ram  an  Perumals.  In  the  copper-plate  of  Bhaskara  Ravi 
Varma,  Kodungallur  is  called  Makotaipattanam,  and  this  is  stated 

to  be  the  capital  of  the  Cheraman  Perumals.  The  Rev.  W.  Taylor 

« 

rightfully  assures  us  that  “the  Sera  Metrapolis  was  no  other  than 
Tiruvanchi,  the  capital  of  the  Sera  Desam,  according  to  manu¬ 
scripts;  and  all  known  traditions,  early  records  and  inscriptions 
point  to  Tiruvanchikulam,  adjacent  fb  Kodungallur,  as  the  capital 
of  the  Perumals.  [Oriental  Mss.  Preface,  p.  13).  ‘Thiru’  only 
means  sacred,  and  will  be  seen  prefixed  to  many  words.  These 
considerations  lead  us  to  look  for  the  ancient  site  of  Karur  some¬ 
where  near  the  modern  towns  of  Cranganur  and  Thiruvanchikulam. 
{Madras  Review ,  pp.  341—2).  And  we  have  such  a  place,  in  a 
little  interior  and  elevated  locality,  called  Karurpatanna,  now 
called  Karupatanna.  Ptolemy  calls  it  Karoura  bassileon  Kera - 
bothron ,  Karoura  the  royal  seat  of  Kerabothras  (Keralaputra), 
and  places  it,  as  it  is  even  now,  near  the  West  Coast  on  a  river 
flowing  into  the  sea  not  far  from  Musiris.  (Me  Crindle’s  Ptolemy , 
pp.  52-53.  Madras  Review ,  Vol.  I,  pp.  341  and  331.) 

Kunhi  Kuttan  Tampuran  says  that  the  word  Namputiri  is 
from  the  Dravidian  root  Nampuka=to  think,  to  believe.  {Keralam 
p.  9,  si.  30.) 


FOREWORD 


xli 


people  who  are  the  most  early  to  be  seen  in  Kerala.1 
If  one  look  at  them  from  the  points  of  view  of 
physiogonomy  and  anthropometry,  they  look  alike.2 
Originally,  they  were  all  classed  as  Kshetryas,  and  as 
descendants  of  Du§hyanta.  To  a  rule  of  Pacini,  which 
KatySyana  thought  was  not  comprehensive  enough,  he 
appended  supplementary  rules  about  words  common  to 
K§hetrya  tribes,,  including  the  Keraias.3  Jt  is  likely 
that,  in  later  times,  those  families  who  took  to  the 
study  of  the  vedas  became  gradually  separated  from 
those  who  took  to  the  arms.*  Nayars  were  recognised 

1.  A  good  way,  long  after  them,  came  the  other  races. 
Still  later,  that  is,  within  the  period  of  modern  history,  came  the 
East  Coast  Brahmans.  Many  of  them,  no  doubt,  came  for  trade  ; 
but,  in  the  first  instance,  I  am  led  to  believe,  they  came,  some 
by  invitation  and  others  otherwise ,  to  teach  Sastras  and  music  in 
the  families  of  Chiefs  and  in  aristocratic  Tarawads.  That  is 
how,  I  suppose,  they  came  to  be  called  P attars.  Bhatta  means  a 
learned  man.  As  the  letter  corresponding  to  the  sound  of  ba  is 
absent  in  Tamil,  pa  took  its  place  ;  ar  is  only  an  honorific  suffix 
— hence  Pattar.  For  analogy,  see  Pattathanam  forBhattasthanam. 

The  Ruler  of  the  Cochin  State  makes,  at  stated  times,  pre* 
sents  of  purses  of  money  to  learned  Brahmans  who  have  attained 
Battasthanam,  the  position  of  Bhattas.  It  is  called  the  Batta 
sthanam  ceremony.  Now  it  goes  by  the  name  of  Pattathanam. 

The  first  outstanding  person  we  hear  of  among  those  who  had 
come  from  the  East  Coast  is  Uddanda  Sastri,  His  period  can  be 
correctly  fixed.  For  he  was  a  friend  of  Chennos  Nambutiri  to  whose 
Thanthra  Samuchchayam  he  contributed,  as  a  bond  of  friendship, 
one  slokam,  descriptive  of  the  bath  after  sacrifice,  avabhruta* 
snanarn.  That  work  gives  the  Kali  year  of  its  composition  which 
is  4528,  which  corresponds  to  M.  E.  602  and  A.  D.  1427.  (<fi>aij 
c6i^oaj(i»ncs2>©r\}oocBcr)QQ)eooQa3j  oeoaolcTOoeaija^cfije  <s$qo 

<a>o  ecood&acfc).  (See  the  writer’s  Introduction  to  Kokila*sande$ani), 

2.  Jenmi-Kutiyan  Committee  Re'port  of  the  Travancore 
Government,  pp.  52 — 3. 

3.  History  of  the  Tamils  >  p,  136. 

4.  This  process  of  differentiation  went  on  even  among  j 
the  Namputiris  and  the  Nayars.  Those  who  learnt  and  practised 
the  healing  art  became  Moosads,  who  were  placed  in  a  grade  below 
the  Vedic  Namputiris;  still  lower  were  placed  the  Moothathus, 
who  officiated  in  Siva  and  other  temples.  Lower  still,  the 


Xlll 


FOREWORD 


as  Kshetryas  within  historic  times.1  Abbe  Du  Bois 
goes  further  and  says  that  “Amongst  those  same 
people  (Nayars)  again  is  another  class  of  people  called 
Nambudiris.”2  Some  scholars  say  that  the  NampU- 
{iris  and  the  Nayars  were  Nagas,  and  that  the  former 
first  accepted  the  Aryan  cult  from  the  physical  or 
spiritual  descendants  of  Parasurama.3 

Varthema  (A.  D.  1502)  has  recorded:-— “The  first 
class  of  pagans  in  Calicut  are  called  Brahmans.  The 
second  are  Naeri  who  are  the  same  as  gentlefolks 
among  us,  and  they  are  obliged  to  bear  sword  and  shield 

Elayathus,  because  they  officiated  as  priests  among  the  Nayars, 
Similarly,  we  meet  with  gradations  among  the  Nayars.  The  holy 
thread,  a  substitute  for  upaveetham,  was  never  worn  except  at 
sacrifices.  (See  the  article  on  the  Sacred  Thread  of  the  Hindus 
in  the  1923  July  issue  of  the  Viswa-Bharathi ),  When  Dr.  Tagore 
went  to  Java  and  other  places,  he  found  the  Brahmins,  without 
the  holy  thread,  sitting  up  aloft  and  chanting  vedic  texts  and 
ringing  bells.  (  Viswa-Bharathi  of  January  1928,  p.  329.) 

The  Aryans  copied  a  lot  from  the  Dravidians:  For  instances, 
the  shaving  of  the  head,  leaving  a  top-knot,  the  tying  of  the 
thali  as  an  important  act  of  the  marriage  rite,  and  the  wearing  of 
a  bit  .of  thread  dyed  in  turmeric.  They  are  considered  Dasyu 
rites  ( History  of  the  ‘lamtls  p.  56).  They  have  the  whole 
Dravidian  Pantheon.  Gods  and  Goddesses  and  all  as  their  own 
now. 

1.  Pioneers  in  India  by  Sir  H.  Johnstone,  p.  143.  Dr. 
Annie  Besant  ’and  Bishop  Leadbeater  in  their  Man—Whence%  How 
and  Whither  remarks:  “Aryans  called  the  Toltecs,  whose  philo¬ 
sophy  they  learned,  Nagas  (p.  272).  Toltec  is  the  third  sub  race 
and  is  of  a  rich  red-brown  colour.  It  is  the  most  splendid  and 
imperial  race  which  long  ruled  the  world  (91).  It  was  a  warrior 
race,  but  its  pure  type  never  formed  the  lower  classes  anywhere 
(9»).  A  splendid  Toltec  civilisation  flourished  in  Egypt  at  a  very 
remote  time  (198).” 

2.  Hindu  Manners  and  Customs ,  Vol.  I,  p.  17. 

3.  History  of  the  Tamils ,  p.  93.  J.  R.  A.  S.  1910, 
pp.  625 — 29.  The  importance  of  the  sacredotal  caste  in  Kerala 
began  only  from  the  time  of  Melathol  Agnihotri,  whose  period  may 
be  to  some  extent  ascertained  by  the  chronogram  (Kalisamkhya 
1 2  7070)  of  the  day  he  performed  a  great  sacrifice —  Ye/na-Sthanam 
Surakshya  (QQ)®«»(ru0Ocnocrv®ca^;) — (379  A.  D.)  ( Zamorm's  Col - 
lige  Magazine 9  Vol.  V,  p.  52)* 


FOREWORD 


xliii 


or  bows  or  lances.”  Barbosa  (A.  D.  1516)  wrote:— “In 
these  Kingdoms  of  Malabar,  there  is  another  sect  of 
people  called  the  Nayars  who  are  the  gentry  who  have 
no  other  duty  than  to  carry  on  war,  and  they  continually 
carry  their  arms  with  them,  which  are  swords,  bows, 
arrows,  bucklers  and  lances.”  Ma  Huan,  a  Chinese 
Muhammadan  traveller  in  the  beginning  of  the  15th 
century,  observed:  — 1 “The  Nayars  rank  with  the 
King”.  1  Mr.  Logan,  in  the  Introduction  to  his 
Malabar  Manual ,  has  remarked: — “I  would  specially 
call  attention  to  the  central  point  of  interest,  as  I  look 
at  it,  in  any  descriptive  and  historical  account  of 
the  Malaysii  race — the  position,  namely,  which 
was  occupied  centuries  on  centuries  by  the  Nayar 
caste  in  the  civil  and  military  organisation  of  the  pro¬ 
vince.  Their  functions  in  the  body  politic  have  been 
tersely  described  as  the  eye,  the  hand  and  the  order”.  2 
The  position  of  the  ftsyars  in  spiritual  matters  is 
evidenced  by  the  prominent  part  they  played  in  the 
establishment  and  management  of  temples.  An  in¬ 
scription  on  a  stone  wall  of  the  DwSraka  Emperumsl 
Ksil  at  Suchlndram,  dated  400  M.  E.  (A.  D.  825), 
speaks  of  Paliikkal  Nayar  as  the  Srlksryakaran  of  the 
temple.  3  If  the  chronicles  of  ancient  Malabar  temples 
are  ransacked,  it  will  be  found  that  many  of  them  were 
either  owned  or  managed  by  the  Nayars.  4 

1.  Royal  Asiatic  Society's  Journal  oi  April  1896;  Malabar 
Quarterly  Revieiv ,  Vol.  IV,  p.  319. 

2.  Travancore  Census  Report  of  1931,  p.  376. 

3.  Dravidiaji  India ,  p.  376.  For  other  instances,  see 
p.  337  of  Volume  III  of  the  History  of  Kerala.  See  also  Chat- 
tampi  Swami’s  Pracheena  Malayalam,  Chaps.  V,  VI  and  VIII. 

4.  See  the  writer’s  article  on  Matilakam .  Calcutta  Historical 
Review  ol.  V,  p.  138.  The  Editor’s  Ernakulam  Kshetramahatmyam\ 
the  Avarodham  Grandhavan  of  the  Kootalmanickam  Temple  at 
Irinjalakuda,  Chronicles  of  Vycome,  Ambalapuzha,  Trivandrum 
and  Suchindrum  temples  will  tell  a  similar  tale. 

See  the  writer’s  article  on  a  Desavazhi  on  pp.  177 — 82  of  the 
All-Kerala  Literary  Parishat  Magazine ,  Vol.  I,  wherein  is  also 
given  the  present  state  of  the  attenuated  lineaments  of  a  republican 
village  Government  of  old  as  it  still  exists  in  the  Cochin  State. 


xliv 


FOREWORD 


“Smritis  permit  only  marriages  in  which  the  wife  is 
one  grade  below  the  husband.  There  are  texts  in  Man u 
forbidding  the  marriage  of  a  Brahman  and  a  Sudra 
woman.  In  Kerala,  Namputiris  have  been  from  ancient 
times  marrying  Nayar  women.  Even  now,  under 
certain  circumstances,  they  also  interdine  with  the 
Nayars.  During  the  period  of  pollution  caused  by 
child-birth,  Namputhiri  women  can  eat  the  food  served 
by  Nayar  woman.  In  the  face  of  such  evidence  it  seems 
to  be  a  travesty  of  facts  to  include  Nayars  in  the  tra¬ 
ditional  Sudra  caste.”  1 

Among  the  distinctive  features  of  the  ancient 
blayars,  as  different  from  the  other  Dra vidian  races, 
may  be  mentioned,  by  way  of  illustration,  their  inheri¬ 
tance  through  females,  the  absence  of  the  kingly  element 
in  the  early  stages  of  their  society,,  their  worship  of 
Durga,  the  Mother  Goddess,  and  of  the  ancestors  and 
Nagas  and  their  excellence  in  magic,  medicine  and 
architecture. 

As  Mr.  Richards  remarks  in  his  valuable  con¬ 
tribution  to  the  Dravidian  Problem,  Mr.  Hartland, 
without  embarking  on  the  stormy  waters  of  Primitive 
Promiscuity,  has,  in  his  work  on  Primitive  Paternity , 
given  us  safe  anchorage  to  the  right  understanding  of 
the  mother  kinship.  2 

In  his  view,  marriage  was  matrilocal  before  it  be¬ 
came  patrilocal.  At  first,  the  husband’s  visits  were 
surreptitious;  then,  his  open  presence  was  tolerated, 
and  was  permitted  to  reside  occasionally  in  the  wife’s 
house  and  to  take  her  at  times  to  his  family  residence. 
Next,  the  husband  was  allowed  to  take  home  his  wife 
on  condition  that  she  should  be  sent  back  for  her  first 
confinement.  In  the  last  stage  of  alf,  the  husband  is 
allowed  to  retain  his  wife  in  his  own  house  permanently. 

i  Rao  Sahib  N.  Kunjan  Pillai,  M.  A.,  B.  Sc„  Ph.  D„  in 
the  above  Travancore  Census  Report  of  his,  p.  377. 

2,  Mythic  Society  Journalt  Vol,  VI,  pp.  191 — 2, 


FOREWORD 


xlv 

He  has  produced  ample  evidence  to  prove  this  theory. 
Mr.  C.  Gopalan  Nayar  supports  him  in  his  able  mono¬ 
graph  on  Wynad.  I  am  sure  every  knowing  Nayar 
will  echo  the  sentiments  of  Mr.  Hartland.  Only  in 
Kerala,  the  system  of  Marumakkathsyam  was  accentu¬ 
ated  by  the  military  life  of  most  of  the  males.  1 

Magic,  sorcery  and  even  witchcraft  were  preva¬ 
lent  in  Ancient  Kerala.  2  There  are  even  now  articles 
of  personal  adornment  among  the  Malayalis  as  protec- 
tives  against  evil  influences;  and  there  are  families, 
members  of  which  are  regarded  as  adepts  in  the  per¬ 
formance  of  magic  rites  and  in  the  art  of  exorcism. 

Kerala  has  made  solid  contributions  to  the  science 
and  practice  of  Tachu  Sastra  (architecture).  Ancient 
temples  and  particularly  certain  Kuttampalams  (thea¬ 
tres)  exist  as  finished  products  of  indigenous  sculpture 
and  architecture. 

The  system  of  Ayurveda  as  practised  in  Kerala, 
says  Dr.  Sankara  Menon,  bears  the  distinct  impress  of 
the  country.  Its  growth  there  stands  unrivalled.  In  a 
country  where  war  formed  part  of  its  political  life,  it  is 
but  natural  that  in  massage,  bone-setting  and  the 
treatment  of  cuts  and  dislocations  the  Kerala  system 
is  seldom  excelled.  It  has  also  specialised  in  the  treat¬ 
ment  of  elephants  and  poison  cases. 3 

There  are  great  works  written  by  Malayalis,  some 
of  which  are  not  yet  published,  on  magic,  medicine  and 
architecture. 

That  a  republican  form  of  Government  prevailed 

i  The  Book  of  Durate  Barbosa^  Vol.  II,  p.  45. 

2.  Malabar  Quarterly  Review ,  Vol.  I,  p.  193.  Dravidtan 
Element  in  Indian  Culture ,  p,  117.  Indian  magic  must  be  regard¬ 
ed  as  a  special  Dravidian  contribution  to  Indian  culture. 

3.  The  Chapter  on  Ayurveda  by  Dr.  K.  Sankara  Menon, 
M.  A.,  Ph.  D.,  till  lately  the  Director  of  Ayurveda  in  Travancore* 
in  the  Progress  of  Cochin ,  p.  385. 


xlvi 


FOREWORD 


in  Kerala  before  monarchy  set  in,  and  that,  even  during 
the  time  of  the  Perumals  and  the  early  local  rulers, 
feudalism  prevailed  there  are  facts  that  need  not  detain 
us  to  be  detailed  or  documented. 

In  South  India,  Malabar  was  the  head-quarters  of 
the  iSJagas.  It  is  still  the  part  where  ftaga  worship 
prevails  on  a  large  scale.  1  One  of  the  progressive 
and  highly  educated  castes  of  South  India,  says  Dr. 
Qilbert  Slater,  is  that  of  the  ifayars.  In  the  gardens 
attached  to  their  houses  a  cobra  (ISlSga)  shrine  is  in¬ 
variably  found.  The  Sfaga  worship  looks  like  an  orga¬ 
nised  cult.  2  Some  think  that  the  top-knot  of  a  ftsyar 
is  symbolical  of  the  serpents’  hood. 3 

In  the  Hindu  Colony  of  Cambodia  4  it  is  stated 
that,  there  in  Cambodia,  originally,  there  was  the 
Hindu  colony  of  Funan.  The  Matriarchal  system 

1.  History  of  the  Tamils ,  pp.  92- — 3. 

2.  The  Dravidian  Element  in  Indian  [Culture  %  p.  85.  The 
late  Kunhi  Kuttan  Tampuran  identifies  Nayars  with  Nagas.  (The 
Keralam ,  pp.  5 — 6,  Sis.  16  and  21).  Some  scholars  think  Nayar 
is  from  the  Sanskrit  Nayaka,  a  military  commander,  a  chief,  a 
leader. 

3.  History  of  the  Tamils ,  pp.  92—93.  There  the  same 
work  remarks  that  the  speech  of  Nagas  was  not  Tamil,  but  it  was 
possible  for  a  Tamil  man  to  master  it  ( Manimekkalai  XVI,  11. 
60—61).  The  late  Mr.  T.A.  Gopinath  Rao,  M.  A.,  the  author  of  a 
scholarly  treatise  on  Iconography ,  (a  brilliant  Archaeologist  and  Epi- 
graphist,  and  the  late  Superintendent  of  Archaeology  in  Travancore), 
used  to  come  to  the  writer,  now  and  again,  with  lists  of  words  picked 
up  in  his  readings  of  inscriptions.  The  ease  with  which  he  was 
supplied  with  their  meanings  at  first  surprised  him.  He  would  say 
that  the  words  are  old  Tamibwords.  The  writer  would  add  that  they 
are  either  current  Malayalam  or  are  commonly  found  in  old  Malaya- 
lam  works.  The  late  Mr,  Seshagiri  Prabhu,  M.  A.f  a  great  gramma¬ 
rian,  called  the  parent  language  of  Tamil  and  Malayalam  Proto- 
Tamil,  which  he  said  was  neither  Tamil  nor  Malayalam,  The  History 
of  the  Tamils  says  (p.  250),  “Early  poems  on  which  Agathyanar  and 
Tolkappiyanar  and  other  early  grammarians  based  their  research¬ 
es  and  rules  have  perished.” 


4.  By  P,  N,  Bose,  M.  A„  see  p,  30. 


FOREWORD 


xlvii 


prevailed  there.  The  first  Indian  king  of  Funan 
married  the  daughter  of  a  Nsga  king.  A  famous 
race  of  men  descended  from  him.:  Through  the  power 
of  the  Ivlsgas,  the  vast  desert  became  a  glorious  land. 
The  tradition  of  the  Nagi  ancestors  of  the  kings  of 
Kamboja  survived  up  to  the  13th  century.  1 

Dr.  Chatterji  also  records  in  his  Indian  Cultural 
Influence  in  Cambodia  that  Pegu  (HamsSvap)  was 
founded  by  one  who  married  the  daughter  of  a  magician 
by  a  Nagi.  A  later  king  Jayavarma  (484  A.  D.)  sends 
ISlagasena  the  Indian  monk  to  China.  2 

From  the  existence  of  numerous  tanks  and  the 
representation  of  Nagas  in  the  sculptures  of  a  temple 
in  the  capital  of  Jayavarma,  Dr.  Chatterji  thinks  it  is 
probable  that  it  is  dedicated  to  an  aquatic  deity,  very 
likely  to  the  aforesaid  Nagi  ancestress.  3  In  Malabar, 
every  temple,  every  house  of  note  will  have  their  tanks. 
His  further  statements  about  the  place  and  its  people 
only  makes  the  similarity  of  the  two  countries  all  the 
more  pronounced.  Ancestor-worship  and  the  worship  of 
the  gods  in  Cambodia  are  found  combined  together.  4 

1.  Indian  Cultural  Influence  in  .  Cambodia  by  Dr.  A.  R. 

Chatterji,  Ph.  D.,  D.  Litt. 

2.  On  the  subject  of  the  Nagas,  please  see  the  lenmi- 
Kudtyan  Committee  Report  of  Travancore,  p.  22  et  seq.  Agastya  is 
a  grandson  of  Brahina,  a  son  of  Pulastya,  a  brother  of  Visravas, 
and  an  uncle  of  Ravana  and  Kubera.  He  is  said  to  have  settled 
on  the  Malaya  Hill,  near  Cape  Comorin.  It  is  said  that  it  was 
because  of  his  seafaring  habits  (for  he  seems  to  have  gone  to 
Java,  Sumatra,  Cambodia,  Siam  and  other  parts  where  he  is  even 
now  worshipped)  that  he  came  to  be  called  the  Pitasagara.  Is  it 
because  of  his  Naga  connection  and  sea-voyages  that  he  took  his 
habitat  in  the  south  ?  The  tradition  is  that  he  could  not  go  to 
the  north  lest  Vindbyan  will  raise  his  height  and  grow  as  of  old, 
thus  giving  a  decent  explanation  for  his  excommunication  from 
among  his  Aryan  brothers  !. 

3.  Page  87  of  the  Indian  Cultural  Influence  in  Cambodia , 

4.  Vide  p.  103.  On  the  same  page,  the  practice  of  Brahmins 
marrying  Kshetrya  Princesses  is  referred  to,  a  practice  peculiar  to 

Malabar. 


xlviii 


FOREWORD 


The  common  people  there  did  not  dare  use  tiles  for  the 
roofs  which  were  thatched.  Every  one  has  his  or  her  hair 
tied  up  in  a  knot-*.  They  have  only  a  loin  cloth,  but 
when  they  go  out,  they  use  a  scarf.1 

In  the  other  Hindu  colonies  also,  one  met  with  the 
worship  of  the  ancestors,  of  the  Mother  Goddess,  of 
the  phallus,  of  the  hereditary  caste  and  of  the  wealth 
going  to  the  female  line.  Siva  temples  abounded,  Tan- 
tric  form  of  rituals  was  common,  and  the  word  Chandi 
occurs  in  almost  all  the  names  of  temple  structures  in 
Java.  2  The  style  of  architecture  too  is  distinctly 
South  Indian.  Even  in  sports  and  pastimes,  one  finds 
similarity  between  Kerala  and  the  Hindu  Colonies.  The 
Kathakali  is  an  indigenous  form  of  the  dramatic  art  in 
Kerala.  It  is  a  dumb-show,  and  the  actors  have  to 
learn  an  elaborate  system  of  Mudras  (signs).  They 
have  also  to  undergo  a  rigorous  course  of  physical 
training.  The  dresses  are  gorgeous,  but  there  are  no 
scenic  divisions-...  3 

In  Java,  Siam,  Bali  and  other  places  we  meet  with 
this  sort  of  dramatic  performances.  As*  in  Malabar, 
even  permanent  troupes  are  maintained  for  this  by 
courts.  A  spiritual  and  cultural  value  is  attached  to 
these.  Closely  attached  to  this  theatre  is  the  ritualistic 
dance  in  temples.  Balinese  and  Javanese  dances  are 
like  the  Mohiniyattam  of  Malabar.  There  are  pastimes 

1.  Indian  Cultural  Influence  in  Cambodia ,  p.  228. 

In  ancient  times,  the  people  in  Malabar  had  to  get  the  leave 
of  their  Chiefs  or  rulers  to  tile  their  houses.  As  a  rule,  they  were 
only  thatched. 

2.  For  authority,  the  writer  invites  the  attention  of  the 
readers  to  the  works  on  Hindu  Colonies  already  referred  to. 

In  the  Buddhapada  of  Sukhodaya  in  Siam,  it  is  noteworthy 
that,  in  the  centre  of  the  padas,  are  two  chakras,  each  with  6 
circles  and  108  signs.  These  numbers  are  significant  and  shall 
be  referred  to  when  Samghams  are  remarked  upon. 

3.  Professor  T.  C.  Sankara  Menon’s  paper  on  Sports  and 
Pastimes  in  the  Progress  of  Cochtn%  pp.  342-3. 

Indo  and  Indonesian  Art%  po.  180  and  211-2. 


FOREWORD 


xlix 

in  the  Malayasian  isles  that  correspond  to  our  Psva-Kali 
(puppet-play)  and  the  Olappskuttu.  There  too,  as  here, 
a  spiritual  significance  is  attached  to  these.  Curiously 
enough,  even  our  Blaveli  reading  exists  in  their  Yama- 
pata  (Javanese  Wayang Beber).  This  is  a  special  kind 
of  painting,  depicting  the  reward  of  good  and  bad  deeds. 
It  is  executed  on  scrolls  of  canvas.  The  performer 
points  to  the  different  pictures  as  he  narrates  the  stories 
in  the  form  of  an  explanatory  monologue.  1 

Though  a  military  race,  the  lives  of  the  Nayars, 
from  start  to  finish,  seem  to  be  invested  by  religion. 
From  birth  to  death,  every  act  and  rite  of  theirs  is 
touched  by  it.  When  they  settled  down  and  began  to 
till  and  toil  for  livelihood,  a  part  of  the  barn,  kalam,  was 
set  apart  for  worship  and  was  called  kalari.  2  When 
the  necessity  for  common  shrines  for  the  community, 
settled  in  different  centres,  was  felt,  these  were  esta¬ 
blished,  and  were  called  Kavus,  2  where  Nayars 

1.  Dravidian  India ,  p.  89.  Originally,  the  painting  may 
have  been  done  on  elk’s  leather  (. M:lav ),  and  so  Mlaveli  and  then 
Blaveli.  The  presentation  of  such  scrolls  to  Sadhus  who  will  go 
about  and  give  readings  is  regarded  in  Malabar  even  now  as  of 
high,  spiritual  virtue. 

2.  As  the  fencing-school  was  held  in  front  of  it,  this  also 
came  to  be  called  Kalari. 

3.  Kavu  means  a  grove;  a  holy  enclosure.  For  these 
shrines  were  originally  made  in  shady  groves.  An  inferior  fane  too 
then  came  to  be  called  kavu,  e.  g.,  Sarpa-kavu,  one  for  nagas  or 
serpents.  It  is  under  these  that  of  old  the  Tarayogams  or  Kara- 
yogams  were  held.  The  race  of  Nayars,  warriors,  were  known 
as  Lokar.  They  formed  the  State,  the  citizens  par  excellence.  The 
others  had  no  voice  in  tribal  affairs.  The  Tara  or  Kara  or  village 
was  the  smallest  territorial  unit  for  administrative  purposes.  The 
affairs  of  the  Tara  was  managed  by  its  elders,  who  were  called  Ta- 
ravazhies  (cf-Natuvazhies,  Desavazhis)  which  term  was  afterwards 
changed  into  Taravadis.  A  Taravad  means  an  ancestral  house  of 
a  landed  proprietor;  and  a  Taravadi  means  a  decent  member  of  an 
ancient,  respectable  family.  Even  now  the  meeting  of  the  Nayar 
community  of  Kodungallur  (called  one  less  for  a  1000 --Onnu- 
Kuray-Ayiram-Yogam)  is  called  Nizhalil  Irikkal ,  a  sitting  in  the 
shade,  even  .though  it  is  convened  under  the  convenient  roofs  of 
tiled  buildings. 

(See  also  Keralamy  p,  8,  cl.  28). 


1 


FOREWORD 


themselves  officiated  as  priests  and  where  animal  sacri¬ 
fices  were  also  usually  conducted.  The  priests  came 
to  be  called  Kurups,  Kurukkals,  Unnikal  and  Adikal. 
In  the  process  of  years,  Kali  gradually  became  KarttyS- 
yani  and  Pafvati;  Kuruti  1  took  the  place  of  blood- 
sacrifices,  and  Brahmins  superseded  Nayars  as  priests. 
Still  the  Nayars  cling  to  their  old  beliefs.  Every  year, 
almost  all  well-to-do  houses  give  offerings  to  their 
Dharma-Daivamgal,  which  comprise  ancestors,  serpents 
(nSgas),  Ayyappan  (Sastha),  Bhadrakali  or  Durga-Bha- 
gavati  and  so  on.  In  many  families  these  are  repeated 
on  the  celebration  of  the  birthdays  of  their  most  senior 
male  and  female  members  and  on  other  festive  occasions. 
There  are  even  now%  108  Durgalayas  in  Malabar, 
temples  (Kavus)  dedicated  to  Durga.  They  have  a 
history  behind  them. 

In  ancient  times,  Nayars,  for  purposes  of  military 
training  and  for  facility  of  governance  were  divided 
into  1 8  Samghams.  2  A  sangham  was  a  military  or¬ 
ganisation.  It  had  also  a  hand  in  the  control  of  the 
country’s  management.  For,  it  was  the  Nattar,  the 
people  of  the  Nad,  country,  that  administered  it  before 
the  advent  of  the  Perumals  whose  rule  began  in  B.  C. 
1 1 3.3  All  complaints  then  had  to  be  laid  before  the  gate 
of  the  Kuttam,  (Kuttam-vatukkal)  which,  to  start  with, 
was  the  Patakkottiiil,  the  place  where  the  military 
leaders  of  each  of  the  18  Samghams  congregated.  Sub¬ 
sequently,  when  the  kings  began  to  rule  the  land,  the 
procedure  was  to  lodge  them  at  the  gate  of  the  palace 

1.  Water  mixed  with  turmeric  and  lime,  which  then  had  a 
blood-like  look.  (See  Mythic  Society  Journal ,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  173 
and  175). 

2.  See  the  article  on  Sanghams  by  H.  H.  Appan  Tham- 
puran  in  the  All-Kerala  Literary  Parishat  Magazine ,  Vol.  I, 
PP.  239— 2|2. 

3  See  the  Kali  Dudurdharam ,  'which  denotes  the  kali 
year  2988,  which  corresponds  to  B.  C.  113. 


FOREWORD 


li 


(Kovilakattum-vstukkal),  the  residence  of  the  rulers. 

Each  Samgham  1  had  six  systems  of  training. 
As  the  training  was  usually  effected  in  the  fencing- 
schools  held  in  front  of  Kalaries  2  ,  there  came  to  be  in 
Malabar  108  Kaiaries,  and  108  Durgslayas.  Every 
year  there  used  to  be  held,  in  a  central  part  of  Kerala, 
Samghakkali  3  ,  a  tournament  of  the  experts  of  the 
different  schools  in  which  the  combatants  exhibited 
their  skill  and  courage  in  movements  and  in  arms.  On 
these  occasions,  national  sports  of  other  sorts  and 
burlesque  of  various  kinds  were  alsQ  presented.  The 

i.  The  Tamil  Samgham  was  first  started  in  imitation  of  a 
Dravida  Samgha.  The  name  Samgha  was  also  given  to  royal 
Durbars  of  ancient  times.  (. History  of  the  Tamils ,  p.  251).  This 
same  work  does  not  seem  to  favour  the  existence  of  Tamil  Sara- 
ghams  or  academies  that  acted  as  censors.  For,  it  says,  on  p.  233, 
MNor  can  we  believe  that  men  of  different  parts  of  Tamil  India, 
from  Musiri  to  Mylapore,  living  under  Kings  warring  with  one 
another,  could  be  summoned  at  the  fait  of  a  Madura  King  and 
sit,  we  are  not  told,  how  often  in  the  year,  in  judgment  over  the 
works  of  poets,  most  of  them  short  odes,  a  few  lines  long.  The 
Jaina  and  Buddha  Samghas  are  bodies  of  ascetics  or  religious 
followers  who  lived  in  monasteries  and  followed  a  strict  code  of 
laws,  and  practised  yogic  exercises.'’ 

1.  See  History  of  Kerala ,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  344. 

2  Samghakkali,  has  passed  through  the  names  of  yathra- 
kkali,  Panakali,  Sastrakkali  and  so  on. 

Its  evolution  in  names  and  in  practices  will,  so  to  say,  also 
show  the  gradual  ascendancy  which  Namputiris  gained  over 
Nayars  in  temporal  and  spiritual  matters.  The  Pana  for  the 
Durghabhagavati  is  seen  superseded  by  the  mysterious  recitation 
of  a  Vedic  text,  and  the  local  chief  of  a  Kaimal  is  being  made 
the  butt-end  of  much  clumsy  ridicule.  No  wonder.  The  old 
Patayani,  a  strict  scientific  military  formation,  has,  in  the  words 
of  the  late  Professor  Sundaram  Pillai,  become  the  modern  Pateyni, 
a  disorderly  march  on  Pooram  or  Vela  nights,  only  to  be  an  item 
of  calculation  with  abkari  renters.  (Sovereigns  of  Ve/iad,p.  5). 


lii 


FOREWORD 


whole  function  was  a  national  festival,  beginning  and 
ending  with  elaborate  invocations  to  the  Mother  Goddess, 
their  tutelary  deity  *. 


Kumarslayam,  ) 

Ernakulam;  *  T.  K.  KRISHNA  MENON. 
29th  June  1933.  ) 


i.  “The  Dravidian  Culture  and  its  Diffusion'5  is  a  large 
subject.  I  have  touched  but  its  fringe.  I  had  to  do  it  here, 
because  this  work  in  general  and  this  volume  in  particular  deal 
with  Kerala  and  an  important  branch  of  the  Dravidian  stock. 
My  treatment  I  own  has  been  desultory.  But,  even  at  the  risk  of 
being  considered  pedantic,  I  have  given  all  relevant  references, 
so  as  to  facilitate  the  work  of  the  scholars  who  may  be  making 
researches  in  this  field;  and,  to  avoid  any  accusation  of  a  bias  in 
favour  of  my  country,  I  have  used  the  very  words  of  the  authors 
from  whose  works  I  have  quoted.  I  close  my  labours  on  this 
volume  with  a  melancholy  interest,  as  Mrs.  K,  P.  Padmanabha 
Menon,  who  was,  till  the  other  day,  warmly  encouraging  me  in 
the  editing  of  her  husband’s  work  has  left  her  mortal  coil.  May 
her  soul  rest  in  Peace. 


Visscher’s 

LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR. 


LETTER  XX. 

Of  the  Nairs,  or  warrior  caste  of  Malabar,  Their  families,  occupations) 
mode  of  warfare,  and  numbers. 

This  letter  shall  be  devoted  to  a  minute  account  of  the  Nairs 
or  warriors  of  Malabar  who  attained  much  celebrity  during  the 
wars  between  the  Zamorin  and  the  Portuguese.  They  maybe 
justly  entitled  born  soldiers,  as  by  the  virtue  of  their  descent  they 
must  always  bear  arms  2  They  constitute  the  third  and  last  of 
the  honoured  castes  under  the  name  of  Sudras.3 

Their  ceremonies  and  observances  coincide  in  a  great  mea¬ 
sure  with  those  of  ChetriahsL  like  these  they  are  allowed  no  lawful 
wives,  and  the  children  always  belong  to  mother’s  family*  Another 
point  of  resemblance  between  these  castes  is  that  their  corpses 
are  always  burnt,  a  privilege  which  belongs  exclusively  to  the 
higher  castes  ;  the  members  of  the  inferior  ones  alone  are  interred. 
The  ceremonies  observed  on  the  birth  of  a  child  resemble  also  in 
many  points  those  of  the  Chelriahs.  At  the  age  of  12  years  a 
Sudra  child  begins  to  learn  the  law's  of  his  caste,  and  when  he  has 
attained  his  16th  he  first  takes  up  arms.4 

The  Sudras  may  be  divided  into  two  classes5:  the  nobles  and 
the  commons.  The  following  are  the  noble  families— Narabedi  6» 
Nambiar 7,  Samandras,  Patitsjan 9,  or  Belerte  Nairs,  Bellalen 
or  Bellares l0,  Wellekoc  Tallenairs  n,  wno  are  barbers  and 
much  esteemed,  as  they  were  privileged  by  Saaeratojaar  12 


Intoductory  Note  Part  1.  On  Malabar  Castes  pp.  I — 25. 


Do 

,,  2.  On  Nambutiris 

pp.  26—136. 

Do 

,,  3.  On  Kshetriyas 

pp.  136—144. 

Do 

,,  4.  The  Antaralas 

pp.  144 — 161 

I. 

Note  1, 

pp.  i6i—337. 

This  is  put  in  as  Part  V  of  the  Introductory 

■  Note. 

2. 

Note  2, 

PP-  338—312. 

3- 

Note  3, 

P-  342- 

4- 

Note  4, 

PP-  343—7. 

S- 

Note  s, 

P.  347- 

6. 

Note  6, 

PP.  347—8- 

7- 

Note  7, 

PP.  348— 9c 

8. 

Note  8 

PP-  349-352- 

9. 

Note  9, 

P-  352. 

10. 

Note. 10, 

P-  353. 

11. 

Note  11, 

P.  353- 

12, 

Note  12, 

P-  353* 

LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


2 


to  assist  the  Brahmins  at  funeral  ceremonies,  Vellala 
Sudren13,  and  Sudren.  These  all  subsist  on  the  produce  of  their 
own  estates  and  carry  on  no  trade,  with  the  exception  of  barter¬ 
ing  among  each  other. 

Some  of  them  are  lords  of  their  own  territories,  possessing 
royal  power,  but  most  of  them  merely  hold  their  estates  in  fief  14 
from  their  prince,  whom  they  are  bound  to  serve  in  war,  and  to  pro¬ 
tect  his  dominions,  for  which  service  they  receive  no  pay,  but  are 
maintained  when  employed  out  of  the  country.  They  generally 
own  Pulleahs,  whom  they  have  inherited  with  their  prpperty,  and 
who  cultivate  the  soil. 

There  are  also  several  Nairs  who  are  employed  in  constant 
attendance  upon  their  Rajahs,  whose  retinue  they  form.  These 
receive  daily  pay,  more  or  less  of  the  Rajah’s  pleasure  ;  it  is  well 
if  they  get  as  much  as  3  stivers  a  day  a  piece  15* 

Rasidoors,  Governors  of  towns  and  provinces,  and  high 
Military  officers  are  chosen  from  this  class  of  Suaras,  as  they  are 
superior  in  dignity  to  the  second  class. 

These  inferior  Sudras  are  also  Nairs  or  soldiers,  bound  to 
accompany  the  Rajah  at  his  behest  in  war 16;  but  in  time  of 
peace  they  maintain  themselves  by  certain  handicrafts  and  trades, 
to  which  they  are  called  by  their  birth  respectively.  Thus  there 
are  the 


Sakkiara  17 
Poodewallen 

Andoehellan  19 
Tzomboe  Kotty  20 
Toonen  21 
Noelchottin  22 
Wilsiatte  Nairs  23 
Jodache  24 


Musicians  in  the  Pagodas  and  at  Court, 
who  have  the  honour  of  handing  betsl 
to  the  Rajah. 

Makers  of  pots  and  fans. 

Bargain  makers. 

Tailors, 

Cloth  weavers. 

Oilmakers. 

Ploughers. 


13. 

Note  13, 

P-  354- 

14. 

Note  14, 

PP.  354-9. 

IS- 

Note  r5, 

PP-  359— 61. 

16. 

Note  16, 

p.  361. 

17. 

Note  *7, 

PP.  361—7. 

18. 

Note  8, 

PP-  367— «• 

ig. 

Note  19, 

PP.  368—9* 

2D. 

Note  20, 

PP.  369—70, 

21. 

Note  21, 

P-'  370* 

22. 

Note  22, 

P-  37o. 

23- 

Note  23, 

P.  370. 

24. 

Note  24, 

p.  370. 

3 


LETTER  XX 


Wallamneoers 25 

'  Ajari  26 
{  Moesjari 
k  Tataan 
Kollen 


Fishermen 

Carpenters. 

Tinkers. 

Silversmiths. 

Blacksmiths- 


The  armies  of  Malabar  are  formed  of  these  Sudras.  They 
are  expert  in  the  use  of  arms,  and  set  at  nought  the  lower  castes, 
who  being  unarmed  are  unable  to  protect  themselves  against  their 
violence.  The  Pulleahs  do  not  venture  to  approach  them,  and 
get  out  of  their  way  to  escape  blows  or  perhaps  wounds  27  for 
these  heroes  always  carry  a  naked  sword  when  they  are  abroad, 
and  even  in  their  houses  they  must  have  one  at  hand  as  a  token 
of  their  dignity  and  office  28:  these  weapons  vary  in  form;  they 
are  generally  straight  with  both  edges  sharp.  They  sometimes 
have  a  small  weapon  called  a  Katjanel 29  besides,  which  is  fasten¬ 
ed  to  the  shoulder  by  a  ribbon. 

The  weapons  used  in  war  are  various  3lk  The  most  common 
are  swords  with  which  they  can  do  considerable  execution,  and 
large  round  shields, made  of  leather  prepared  with  many  colours, 
resembling  the  ancient  clypei.  Sometimes  the  shields  are  covered 
with  tiger  skins,  they  are  very  light  and  the  Nairs  are  adroit  in 
the  use  of  them.  Some  are  armed  with  bows  and  arrows;  these 
are  chiefly  inhabitants  of  the  mountains.  They  have  also  pike- 
men;  their  pikes  are  very  small  and  light,  .and  they  are  quick  in 
hurling  them.  They  are  all  foot  soldiers;  knowing  nothing  of 
horsemanship.  I  have  never  seen  a  Malabar  on  horseback;  not 
even  do  their  princes  possess  seeds,  and  indeed  they  would  be  of 
no  use  in  the  low  flat  lands,  where  the  ground  is  much  broken 
and  very  marshy,  and  intersected  with  streams:  and  besides  this, 
there  are  no  beaten  roads,  the  whole  country  being  covered  with 
bushes  and  underwood  31*  It  often  happens  that  our  troops  are 
obliged  to  march  in  single  file,  and  if  the  natives  at  such  times 
were  wise  and  active  enough  they  might  easily  annihilate  our 
regiments  by  opposing  their  progress. 32 

Moreover  there  are  few  or  no. horses  found  here.  There  are 
a  few  of  a  puny  species  unfit  for  riding  at  Tengepatnam.  The 
wealthy  Moors  import  them  from  Arabia,  and  these  animals  fetch 


a  high 

price. 

25- 

Note  25, 

P*  370. 

26. 

Note  26, 

PP.  370—3* 

27. 

Note  27, 

TP*  373^“8i. 

28. 

Note  28, 

PP*  3S1— 2. 

29. 

Note  29, 

P*  382. 

3°* 

Note  30, 

pp.  382—S. 

31* 

Note  31, 

PP*  385* 

Note  32, 

pp.  385 

4 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


The  Rajahs  keep  elephants,  which  are  captured  in  the  moun¬ 
tains  and  are  of  immense  size,  but  they  are  only  used  for  hard 
work,  and  in  war  for  transporting  baggage,  33 

They  have  musketeers  also  among  their  troops,  and  they 
have  a  good  notion  of  making  the  barrels  of  their  muskets  which 
they  do  not  bore,  but  cast.  3i  With  these  muskets  they  can 
reach  nearly  as  far  as  we  do  with  ours;  but  they  are  very  heavy 
and  their  weight  is  increased  by  the  ramrod  being  of  iron.  They 
take  a  very  sure  aim,  and  the  first  shot  generally  hits35  and  often 
inflicts  great  mischief,  for  .the  wounds  are  inflicted  by"  the  grape- 
shot  of  various  shapes  which  they  use  instead  of  round  bullets  are 
very  painful.  Their  muskets  have  one  great  fault,  that  it  takes  a 
long  time  to  load  them,  so  that.  European  foes,  when  they  have 
stood  the  first  fire  can  fall  upon  them  while  they  are  reloading. 
Besides  this,  they  can  never  let  off  more  than  three  volleys  in 
succession,  because  when  firing  they  place  one  of  the  finger  nails 
between  the  eye  and  the  nose,  and  by  the  time  the  third  shot 
is  discharged,  all  the  skin  is  scratched  off  that  part  of  the  face. 
Like  other  barbarous  nations  36  they  possess  but  little  military 
science.  They  do  not  know  how  to  form  ranks,  and  pay  little 
heed  to  the  commands  of  their  officers.  They  fight  in  a  confused 
manner  without  any  order  or  concert,  for  which  reason  they-cannot 
be  incorporated  into  our  regiments  like  the  other  Indian  soldiers, 
but  must  form  a  separate  Crops.  We  beheld  in  the  late  war,  how 
much  they  were  terrified  by  the  pikemen  of  Balise  and  Java,  who 
led  by  Europeans  made  such  a  furious  onslaught  upon  these 
Nairs  that  they  were  thrown  into  the  utmost  confusion.  They 
have  another  fatal  custom,  which  has  cost  many  lives;  Every 
body  slain  in  battle  must  immediately  be  taken  away  to  be  burnt, 
which  creates  great  confusion,  and  the  survivors  lose  heart  at 
the  sight  of  their  comrades  thus  carried  dead  off  the  field. 

Again  they  are  ignorant  of  the  science  of  beleaguering  strong¬ 
holds37  and  they  have  no  materials  for  cannonading38  bombs, 
grenades,  and  other  instruments  of  war  being  unknown  to  them: 
therefore  we  have  not  much  to  fear  from  them  in  this  respect,  if 
our  forts  are  but  tolerably  well  protected.  We  have  seen  how 
Anjengo  held  out  against  them  when  almost  entirely  bereft 
of  garrison.  They  are  better  at  defending  a  fort  or  fortified 
village,  constructed  in  their  own  fashion,  than  at  open  fight  in 


33# 

Note 

33» 

P.  3S0. 

34* 

Note 

34, 

pp.  386- 

“7 

35- 

Note 

35, 

PP  387- 

-8 

36. 

Note 

36, 

PP.  388- 

-95- 

37. 

Note 

37» 

PP  395- 

-41  ;♦ 

3& 

Note 

3». 

P-  417% 

LETTER  XX 


S 


the  field  :  for,  when  behind  the  shelter  of  their  walls  they  can 
fire  away  at  their  ease  through  the  gunholes,  and  we  are  obliged 
to  keep  out  of  r'ange  of  their  firelocks:  but,  after  all,  there  is  not 
much  to  fear  from  them,  as  they  know  so  little  how  to  handle 
them.  The  Rajah’s  endeavour  to  entice  our  men  to  act  as  officers 
of  them39,  imagining  that  every  European  is  well  versed  in  military 
matters,  though,  may  be,  he  has  never  seen  a  cannon  fired. 

I  think  it  the  wisest  way  in  attacking  their  forts  and  paggers 
to  make  use  of  bombs,'  grenades,  and  combustibles,  both  because 
these  missiles  strike  terror  into  them  and  because  their  fortified 
villages,  being  constructed  generally  of  combustible  matters  (for 
the  houses  are  built  of  dry  palmyra  leaves,)  speedily  catch  fire  and 
are  consumed. 

The  wars  which  the  Rajah’s  wage  among  themselves  are  not 
productive  of  much  bloodshed.'10  A  battle  in  which  20  lives  were 
lost  would  be  considered  a  very  serious  affair.  The  deaths  in  the 
course  of  a  whole  war  often  do  not  amount  to  that  number,  there¬ 
fore  these  hostilities  excite  but  little  of  our  attention,  though 
sometimes  three  or  four  Rajahs  combine  together  against  others. 
The  principal  mischief  they  cause  is  by  hindering  the  transport 
of  supplies,  and  very  often  the  whole  country  is  devastated  and 
laid  waste,  the  cattle  driven  away,  and  the  miserable  subjects 
sorefy  oppressed.  There  are  sufficient  reasons  to  account  for  this 
species  of  warfare,  they  possess  no  walled  towns  and  very  few 
fortified  villages  ;  but  all  their  places  are  unprotected  41*  and  open 
and  their  territories  contiguous  to  each  other,  so  that  the  injured 
party  being  the  weakest  in  one  quarter  may  be  able  to  inflict 
reprisal  on  the  aggressor  by  invading  his  domains  in  another. 

The  death  of  a  Rajah  or  grandee  in  war  tends  to  improve 
the  condition  of  his  par*y.  for  the  enemy  who  has  been  the  cause 
of  his  death  must  immediately  quit  the  field,  and  pay  a  fine  either 
in  goods  or  lands  to  the  family  of  the  slain  prince.  42  Thus  the 
Rajah  of  Mangatti  once  killed  three  Paroese  princes  and  was 
therefore  obliged  to  resign  ^a  considerable  piece  of  land.  This 
law  is  of  service  in  protecting  the.  lives  of  these  princes. 

And  now  let  us  consider  the  numbers  of  these  Nairs. 
According  to  Malabar  calculation  there  are  3,000,000  of  them  in 
this  country ;  but  this  is  incredible,  for  although  many  places  are 
highly  populated,  we  cannot  believe  th!it  so  small  a  track  of  land 
can  contain  so  many  hundred  thousand,  taking  into  consideration 

39  Note  39,  p-  418. 

40.  Note  40,  p_  41S. 

41.  Note  41,  pp.  418—9. 

42.  Note  42,  pp.  419— 2C, 


6 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


besides  the  numbers  of  the, other  castes.  But  the  Malabar  Rajahs^ 
like  other  Oriental  monarchs,  are  fond  of  exaggerating  their 
importance,  and  they  boast  of  the  number  of  Nairs  and  soldiers 
they  have  in  their  country*and  service,  to  impress  us  with  the 
idea  of  their  wealth  and  power43* 


LETTER  XXI. 

Account  of  the  Chegos,  and  other  low  castes  of  Malabar; 

The  lower  orders  of  Malabar  are  divided  into  several  castes, 
differing  considerably  in  rank  and  dignity1.  We  will  first 
notice  the  Chegos  2  who  came  in  very  ancient  times  to  this 
country  ,  of  which  they  may  be  reckoned,  on  account  of  their  long 
habitation  and  similarity  of  religion,  as  natives.  The  tradition  is 
that  they  came  originally  from  Ceylon,  where  they  belonged  to 
the  military  caste,  in  consequence  of  the  following  circumstance. 
In  the  time  of  Cheramperoumal,  a  woman  belonging  to  the  caste 
of  the  washermen,  whose  house  adjoined  that  of  an  Ajari  (the 
carpenter  caste),  being  occupied  as  usual  in  washing  a  cloth  in 
water  mixed  with  ashes  (which  is  here  used  for  soap),  and  hav¬ 
ing  no  one  at  hand  to  hold  the  other  end  of  it,  called  to  a  young 
daughter  of  the  Ajari,  who  was  alone  in  the  house,  to  assist  her. 
The  child,  not  knowing  that  this  was  an  infringement  of  the  laws 
of  her  caste,  did  as  she  was  requested,  and  then  went  home.  The 
washerwoman  was  emboldened  by  this  affair  to  enter  the  Ajari’s 
house  a  few  days  afterwards;  and  upon  the  latter  demanding 
angrily  how  she  dared  to  cross  his  threshold,  the  woman  answered 
scornfully  that  he  belonged  now  to  the  same  caste  as  she  did 
since  his  daughter  had  helped  to  hold  her  cloth.  The  Ajari, 
learning  the  disgrace  that  had  befallen  him,  killed  the  washer¬ 
woman.  Upon  this,  her  friends  complained  to  Cheramperoumal 
who  espoused  their  cause  and  threatened  the  carpenters;  where¬ 
upon  the  latter  combined  together  to  take  refuge  in  Ceylon,  where 
they  were  favourably  received  by  the  king  of  Candy,  for  whom  the 
Malabars  have  great  veneration.  Cheramperoumal  was  placed  in 
great  embarrassment  by  their  departure,  having  no  one  in  his 
dominions  who  could  build  a  house  or  make  a  spoon,  and  begged 
the  king  of  Candy  to  send  them  back,  promising  to  do  them  no 
injury  The  Ajaris  would  not  place  entire  confidence  in  these 
promises,  but  asked  the  king  to  send  with  them  two  Chegos  and 
their  wives,  to  witness  Cheramperoumal’s  conduct  towards  them, 
and  to  protect  them-  The  king  granted  their  reqqest,  with  the 

43.  Note  43*  PP-  420~422. 

I,  Note  1,  pp.  4 23—4. 

3,  Note  3,  pp,  434—46. 


LETTER  XXI  7 

stipulation  that  on  all  high  occasions,  such  as  weddings  and  deaths 
and  other  ceremonies,  the  Ajaris  should  bestow  three  measures  of 
rice  on  each  of  these  Chegos  and  their  descendants,  as  a  tribute 
for  this  protection;  a  custom  which  still  exists*  If  the  Ajari 
is  too  poor  to  afford  the  outlay,  he  is  still  obliged  to  present  the 
requisite  quantity  of  rice,  which  is  then  taken  back,  to  him  again, 
the  privilege  of  the  Chegos  being  thus  maintained.  From  these 
two  couples  all  the  Chegos  of  Malabar  are  said  to  be  descended. 

This  caste  comes  next  below  that  of  the  Sudras,  but  is  con¬ 
sidered  much  less  honourable.  In  times  of  civil  war  or  rebellion 
the  Chegos  are  bound  to  take  up  arms  for  the  lawful  sover¬ 
eign;  and  some  princes  employ  them  as  soldiers  on  other  occasions, 
if  they  have  not  a  sufficient  force  of  Niars.  Their  principal 
occupation  is  that  of  drawing  toddy ,  which  is  compulsory  on  their 
caste,  this  operation,  as  you  know,  is  performed  by  cutting  off 
the  top  of  the  cocoa-palm,  and  collecting  in  vessels  the  juice 
which  exudes  from  it.  The  Chegos  are  sub  divided  into  two 
castes:  the  Chegos  and  the  Twen  Chegos. 

Next  to  the  Chegos  are  the  Coclagoeryp  3,  who  make  bows,  ar¬ 
rows  shields  and  other  weapons  of  war,  and  the  Canniargoeryp , 4, 
whose  vocation  is  to  teach  the  art  of  fencing  and  the  use  of 
weapons  ;  with  these  we  must  reckon  the  Coetady  5  or  trumpeters. 

After  these  castes  follow  others  still  lower  in  rank,  consisting 
of  ist,  the  Cannianol*\  who  are  astrologers;  2nd,  the  Corwaas  7 
or  exorcisers  of  evil  spirit;  3rd  the  Cuca  Corwaas 8,  snake  charm¬ 
ers  and  diviners;  and  4th,  the  Poensn  Pontoon  9,  who  accompany 
them  with  tambourines  or  small  drums.  These  four  cas:es  are  in 
some  measure  distinct,  but  resemble  each  other  in  their  strict 
separation  from  other  castes  in  their  unsettled  mode  of  life, 
wandering  from  place  to  abode  and  earning  their  livelihood  by 
exorcisms,  jugglery,  snake-charming  l0,  etc,,  like  the  heathens 
in  Europe:  and  in  their  independence,  for  they  manage  their  own 
law  suits,  punish  their  own  criminals,  and  are  subject  to  no  Prince 
or  Raiah. 

Another  caste  are  the  Mocquaas  ll,  who  inhabit  the  sea¬ 
shores  and  subsist  by  fishing.  We  cannot  wonder  that  many  of 

3*  Note  3,  pp.  446— 7. 

4.  Note  4,  pp-  447 — 8 

5.  Note  5,  p-44<S* 

6.  Note  6,  pp-  448—455* 

7.  Note  7,  p*  455« 

8  Note  8,  pp*  455 — 6* 

9-  Note  9,  pp-  456—9* 

10.  Note  ic,  p-  460- 

11.  Note  11,  pn  460—76- 


$ 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


them  have  become  Romish  Christians,  as  the  Europeans  have  so 
much  influence  in  those  parts  of  the  country. 

The  slave  castes,  the  members  of  which  belong  to  individual 
masters,  are:  ist,  the  Cannekaas ,  who  gather  the  cocoanuts;  and 
2nd,  the  Bettoas ,  who  make  saltpans  and  collect  the  salt:  these 
two  are  the  roost  honourable  of  the  slave  castes12. 

Then  follow  the  Pulleahs,  who  are  again  sub-divided  into 
several  classes;  the  Collamary  or  smiths;  the  ll  eltoe  Care7is>  the 
Beltoe  Pulleahs ,  and  the  Canna  Pulleahs ,  whose  occupation  is 
agriculture,  sowing,  planting  and  cutting  the  Nely,  for  which  they 
receive,  both  from  their  proprietors  and  from  strangers,  one  sheaf 
out  of  every  ten  they  cut.  There  is  a  dispute  between  the  Canne- 
kaas  and  the  the  Pulleahs  as  to  which  is  the  higher  caste  13,  for 
there  is  room  even  among  these  miserable  creatures  for  pride;  the 
first  maintaining  that  their  caste  ranks  first,  whilst  the  Pulleahs14 
aver  that  they  enjoy  more  privileges,  as-  for  instance  that  they’ 
may  employ  barbers,  and  may  wear  a  fillet  on  their  heads  and  a 
long  garment  reaching  to  the  knees,  which  the  Cannekaas  may 
not  do. 

The  Pariahs  15  are  divided  into  two  castes;  the  Canni  Pariahs 
and  the  Asse  Pariahs .  They  are  regarded  as  out-castes;  their  usual 
occupation  is  making  rice  winnows  and  baskets,  and  they  are  also 
cow-doctors,  and  have  a  right  to  flay  the  carcases  of  cows  and  to 
keep  the  hides  for  themselves.  They  are  permitted  to  eat  the 
flesh  of  cows  that  have  died,  and  often  devour  it  raw. 

Besides  these  there  are  three  jungle  castes16"  ist,  the 
Oilare's l7,  who  collect  honey  and  wax  in  the  jungles,  where  these? 
articles  are  found  in  great  abundance,  and  are  brought  down  to  the 
coast  by  merchants  and  thence  exported  to  other  countries.  The 
Ollares  wear  no  clothing,  and  regard  the  tiger  as  their  uncle. 
When  one  of  these  animals  dies,  either  naturally  or  by  violence, 
they  shave  their  beads  in  token  of  mourning,  and  eat  no  cooked 
food  for  three  days;  they  may  eat  no  flesh  but  that  of  animals 
which  have  been  killed  by  tigers,  so  that  the  existence  of  these 
wild  beasts  is  of  great  consequence  to  them. 

The  ll  edden> 18  and  the  Baiaddy 19  are  also  bushmen  who  hunt 
vild  beasts  and  subsist  upon  their  flesh,  as  well  as  upon  herbs, 

12.  Note  12,  \j.‘ 470. 

13.  Note  13,  pp.  476—7. 

14.  Note  14,  pp.  477—512. 

15.  Note  15,  pp.  512—523 

16.  Note  16,  pp.  523 — 526. 

17.  Note  17,  pp.  526—528. 

18.  Note  18,  pp.  528—529. 

19.  Note  19,  pp.  529 — 53&* 

Other  Hill  tribes  p  538. 


LETTER  XXII 


t 


and  roots ;  so  that  there  are  many  among  these  three  castes  who 
have  never  tasted  rice. 

I  have  thus  given  you  a  brief  account  of  the  low  castes,  who 
come  little  if  at  all  under  the  notice  of  us  Europeans,  and  are 
therefore  little  thought  of. 

LETTER  XXII. 

Account  of  the  Pattares  and  their  privileges— of  the  Canarese,  their 
manner  of  life,  divisions  of  caste,  nuptial  and  funeral  ceremonies,  and  feasts  : 
and  of  the  Jogis. 

e 

The  heathens  or  idolators  of  Malabar  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes ;  the  natives  and  the  foreigners.  The  latter  are  of 
three  descriptions1  :  (1)  Those  who  visit  the  country  for  trading 
purposes,  and  sojourn  in  it  for  a  long  time,  who  are  called 
Pattares .  (2)  Those  who  are  settled  in  Malabar,  called  Canarese . 

(3)  Those  who  merely  travel  through  it,  called  Jogis. 

The  Pattares,2,  who  are  many  thousands  in  number,  are 
Brahmins,  dwelling  among  and  beyond  the  mountain  range.  Their1 
native  country  is  the  district  round  Tuticorin,  Cbromandel,  Ma¬ 
dura,  Kotar  and  the  neighbourhood.  They  hold  themselves 
higher  than  the  Malabar  Brahmins  and  Namburies,  who  the^  say 
sprang  from  fishermen  elevated  to  the  Braminical  dignity  by 
Paroese  Raman.  The  Pattares  take  no  share  in  the  Administra* 
tion  of  Government  in  Malabar, 3  being  regarded  as  foreigners, 
although  they  sometimes  spend  three  or  four  years  on  this  coast. 
Their  occupation  consists  in  trading,  and  the  conveyance  of  com¬ 
modities  into  the  interior.  They  do  not  deal  with  the  Company 
or  other  Europeans,  but  with  the  Canarese,  Moors  and  Jews, 
whose  gooejs  they  buy.  They  have  erected  factories  for  trading 
purposes4  at  Quilon,  Kully  Quilon,  Cochin,  Trichur,  Ponnani  and 
Calicut,  where  they  possess  also  magazines. 

The  Rajahs  of  Malabar  have  granted  certain  commercia. 
privileges  to  the  Pattares.5  The  first  is  exemption,  to  a  great 
degree,  from  customs ;  they  pay  only  half  the  usual  duty  for  the 
loads  they  carry  on  their  heads,  and  nothing  for  those  they  carry 
on  their  backs,  so  that  we  generally  see  them  laden  with  two 
packages.  They  are  restricted  however  to  such  goods  as  they  can 
carry  themselves  overland.  Their  second  privilege  is  an  allow¬ 
ance  of  food  gratis  at  any  Pagoda  they  visit,  so  long  as  they 
remain  there :  in  return  for  this  they  are  bound  to  sweep  and 
clean  the  building  when  required.  They'enjoy  the  same  privilege  at 
the  courts  of  several  Rajahs  where  they  appear  in  great  numbers 

1.  Note  1,  p.  602. 

2.  Note  2,  pp  602 — 4. 

3.  Note  3,  pp.  604—5, 

4.  Note  4,  p.  605. 

5.  Note  5,  pp.  605—6. 


I*  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 

on  festival  days,  and  take  the  opportunity  to  eat  voraciously; 
on  these  occasions  they  receive  also  a  few  fanams.  Thirdly,  the 
right  of  carrying  their  loads  is  confined  to  men  of  their  own  caste 
and  nation,  an  arrangement  by  which  many  thousands  of  their 
poor  are  supported,  no  other  race  being  allowed  any  share  in  their 
profits. 

The  Pattares  rre  sub-divided  into  three  castes6,  which  differ 
but  little  in  rank,  though  the  respective  members  refuse  to  eat 
out  of  the  same  dish,  or  to  intermarry  with  each  other.  They  are 
called: — 

Pandy  'I  Tanlour  } 

Toele  Pattares  or  Choolia  Pattares. 

Toelegen  J  Mockeramby  J 

Their  customs  resemble  those  of  the  Canarese  and  other 
Brahmins,  of  whom  we  will  now  speak. 

The  Canarese7  who  are  permanently  settled  in  Malabar,  are 
the  race  best  known  to  the  Europeans ;  not  only  because  the  East 
India  Company  trade  with  them,  and  appoint  one  of  their  number 
to  be  their  merchant,  giving  him  the  attendance  of  two  Dutch 
soldiers  ;  but  also  because  from  the  shops  of  these  people  in  the 
town  we  obtain  all  our  household  necessaries,  except  animal  food. 
Some  sell  rice<  others  fruits,  others  various  kinds  of  linen,  and 
some  again  are  money  changers:  so  that  there  is  hardly  one 
who  is  not  engaged  in  trade.  For  this  purpose  their  dwellings 
are  scattered  all  along  the  sea  coast.  They  are  much  fairer  than 
the  natives  of  Malabar.  The  woman  ,are  good  looking,  and 
wear  a  quantity  of  ornaments,  such  as  gold  chains,  ear-rings  and 
nose-rings  set  with  precious  stones  or  pearls,  and  bracelets ;  in 
addition  to  which  there  is  generally  a  thick  silver  ring,  on  one 
foot,  hanging  over  the  ankle.  Their  hair  is  twisted  in  a  roll  on 
one  side,  and  sometimes  adorned  with  flowers  ;  and  they  wear  a 
veil  of  white  linen  or  silk,  thrown  over  their  shoulder,  and 
fastened  in  front  to  the  dress,  which  is  ©f  the  same  material. 
The  men  are  in  general  well  made  ;  they  wear  white  linen  tunics, 
which* may  either  hang  loose  or  are  girded  up ;  and  like  the 
women  they  wear  rings  on  their  hands  and  in  their  ears.  The 
head  is  shaved,  with  the  exception  of  a  long  tuft  of  hair  on  the 
crown  which  they  twist  together,  and  cover  with  a  Roomal  or 
band. 

According  to  their  own  tradition,  the  Canarese  came  from  a 
country  called  Kasti  Bardy,  lying  in  the  high  lands,  between  Goa 
and  Bombay,  and  divided  into  twelve  small  provinces,  from 
which  they  were  driven  in  early  times  by  the  Moors  or  Moguls  ; 

5.  Note  6,  pp.  606— 609. 

7.  Note  7,  pp,  6o7-~6o8. 


LETTER  XXII 


ii 


they  then  came' down  to  Goa.  and  to  the  districts  of  Canaru  or 
the  Concan,  where  great  numbers  of  this  race  are  found,  and 
nhetce  called  Canarese  8.  The  Portuguese  have  converted  sever¬ 
al  of  them  to  the  Christian  confession  by  violent  means,  tearing 
children  from  the  arms  of  their  parents  in  order  to  baptize  them. 
As,  however,  under  our  Government  no  compulsion  is  permitted 
in  matters  of  religion,  we  find  no  one  now  turn  Romanist  unless 
it  may  be  one  who  has  lost  caste  by  the  commission  of  some 
crime.  They  are  attracted  to  Malabar  for  the  sake  of  trade,  which 
they  first  entered 'into  with  the  Portuguese,  and  continue  to  carry 
on  with  the  Dutch. 

The  Canarese  in  the  Kingdom  of  Cochin  live  in  the  vicinity 
of  ottr  towns  and  forts. 9  but  not  inside  them,  for  they  look  upon 
the  Europeans  as  unclean,  and  will  not  eat  or  drink  in  our  houses. 
They  carry  this  feeling  so  far,  that  if  they  are  shut  up  in  the  pri 
sons  of  the  East  India  Company,  they  will  not  touch  any  cooked 
food  or  rice,  but  only  eat  a  little  betel  and  cocoanuts,  which  are 
not  reckoned  as  food;  so  it  is  the  custom  to  allow  them  before 
sunset  to  go  out  of  the  town  under  the  guard  of  the  Serjeant  ‘'of 
justice,  that  they  may  bathe  and  change  their  dress,  and  then 
eat  the  food  their  friends  bring  to  them;  for,  like  the  Malabar 
Brahmins,  it  is  against  their  laws  to  eat  in  the  same  clothing  they 
wear  in  the  town. 

There  are  two  classes  of  Canarese,  the  Visnoumattes  and  the 
Schoumattes ,10  but  there  is  no  more  difference  between  them  than 
there  is  between  two  strips  of  sandalwood.  They  say  that  Sancrat- 
char  11  gave  some  petty  laws  to  the  Brahmins  of  his  sect,  called 
Schoumattes  to  distinguish  them  from  the  others;  but  the  distinc¬ 
tion  is  very  trifling.  Polygamy  is  forbidden  among  the  Canarese 
as  it  is  among  other  Brahmins;  widowers  may  marry  five  times, 
but  not  more.  They  give  their  daughters  in  marriage113  at  the 
age  of  eight  or  nine  years;  for  if  they  pass  their  tenth  year  unmar¬ 
ried,  they  lose  caste,  and  are  not  allowed  to  marry.  Parents  con¬ 
sequently  begin  to  look  out  for  suitors  for  their  daughters  very 
early,  and  generally  obtain  for  the  purpose  the  services  of  their 
priests,  who  first  sound  the  inclinations  of  the  bridegroom  and 
his  father,  and  then  propose  the  marriage  to  them.  The  feelings 
of  the  girls  themselves  are  not  taken  into  account  at  all,  and 
they  are  much  to  be  pitied,  being  driven  into  matrimony  so 
young,  with  the  dread  of  their  tenth  year  hanging  like  a  weight 
•over  them. 

8.  Note  8,  pp- 610-613- 

9.  Note  9,  pp-  613-614- 

10.  Note  10,  pp-  614— 618- 
Si.  Note  11,  pp*  618— 628* 

12,  Not*  12,  p.  629- 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


ti 

When  the  parents  of  both  parties  have  agreed  together,  the 
young  man,  accompanied  by  his  friends,  repairs  to  the  house  of 
the  bride,  where  he  stands  before  the  door,  and  asks  her 
parents: — “  Will  you  .give  me  your  daughter”.  The  answer 
is  given  in  the  -  affirmative;  and  then  the  bride’s  *  father 
takes  the  bride-groom  by  the  hand,  and  leads  him  under*  canopy 
raised  before  the  door  for  the  purpose,  and  there  puts  in  his 
hahds the  money,  gold  and  jewels  assigned  for  his  daughter’s 
dowry.  The  bride-groom  now  enters  the  house,  where  a  white 
linen  sheet  is  stretched  between  him  and  the  bride,  so  that  they 
cannot  see  each  other.  The  bride’s  father  then  says: — *'  My 
daughter’s  name  is  *  *  *,  her  parents  are  called  *  *  *  * 

and  come  from  the  province  of  *  *  If  it  happen  that  both 

parties  belong  to  the  same  province,  they  must  not  marry,  fellow 
provincials  being  regarded  as  brethren:  if  this  is  not  the  case, 
the  marriage  is  lawful,  the  sheet  is  removed,  and  the  bride-groom 
takes  the  bride  by  the  hand,  whilst  the  priest  reads  aloud*  to  the 
newly  wedded  pair  their  conjugal  duties.  The  bride  is  then  exhi¬ 
bited  to  all  the  guests  with  her  eyes  closed  and  her  arms  folded, 
after  which  she  and  the  bride-groom  are  seated  together  on  the 
same  bench;  a  fire  is  lighted,  over  which  they  take  an  oath  to  this 
effect.— “  We  will  live  as  the  Priest  has  bidden  us,  and  as  our 
parents  have  lived’  ’.  Some  women  now  appear  and  chant  a 
song  in  honour  of  the  couple,  strewing  on  their  heads  uncooked 
rice,  which  among  the  rich  is  mixed  with  pearl-dust.  The 

'4 

nuptial  ceremonies  last  five  days,  during  which  time  the  custom 
is  to  place  3  cups,  with  small  holes  in’them,  in  a  tub  of  water;  as  the 
water  runs  into  the  cups,  if  they  sink  straight  to  the  bottom,  it  is  a 
good  omen,  but  if  they  turn  and  fall  on  one  side,  it  is  the  reverse. 
They  have  a  way,  however,  of  forcing  a  good  omen  out  of  a  bad 
one,  by  repeating  the  experiment  till  the  cups  sink  down  rightly. 
The  whole  period  of  the  nuptials  is  celebrated  with  great  rejoic¬ 
ings,  and  dancing  girls  are  hired  to  exhibit  their  skill.  The 
guests  are  sprinkled  with  rose  water,  a  great  mark  of  respect 
among  these  people,  and  presented  with  flowers.  On  the  sixth 
day  they  rest,  and  on  the  seventh  the  newly  wedded  pair  bathe, 
and  the  ceremony  is  concluded. 

When  a  first  child  is  born,13  they  go  through  various  enchant¬ 
ments  to  ascertain  whether  the  aspect  of  the  Heavens  is  favour¬ 
able  or  not,  from  which  they  foretell  the  infant’s  future  fortunes, 
the  Canarese  being,  like  all  the  Indian  tribes,  much  addicted  to 
astrology.  The  father  and  all  his  friends  must  then  remain  with* 
in  doors  for  ten  days;  on  the  twelfth  they  name  the  child,  and 
take  it  to  the  Pagoda  to  exhibit  it  before  the  idol,  before  which 
13,  rJcte  13.  ppi  629—631 


LETTER  XXII 


13 


they  do  reverence.  When  the  boys  of  this  race  attain  their  tenth 
year,  the  thread  is  hung  round  their  neck  with  much  solemnity* 
by  which  ceremony  they  are  consecrated  or  set  apart;  the  head 
is  shaved  at  the  same  time,  a  tuft  being  left  on  the  crown,  which 
they  must  preserve  all  their  lives  as  a  mark  of  their  dignity. 

The  Canarese,  as  we  have  said,  maintain  themselves  by 
trade.14  Children  of  six  or  seven  years  old  are  set  to  work  at  it, 
so  that  they  grow  up  very  sharp  and  cunning:  they  have  notion  of 
honesty,  and  no  dependence  can  be  placed  on  their  word.  If 
they  want  to  obtain  any  thing  from  us,  they  will  keep  on  asking 
for  it  in  the  most  unbushing  manner;  but  nothing  can  be  got 
from  them  without  the  greatest  trouble.  They  defer  paying  their 
debts  as  long  as  possible,  in  order  to  gain  interest  on  the  money 
in  the  meantime;  and  when  reproached  for  their  dishonesty  do 
not  take  it  amiss,  but  assent  to  all  that  is  said,  caring  ? ittle  for 
hard  words.  They  are  also  very  uncourteous;  if  any  one  visits 
their  houses  they  will  not  even  ask  him  to  come  in,  and  think  it  a 
great  favour  if  they  give  him  a  cup  of  milk. 

The  Canarese  are  more  numerous  in  the  kingdom  of  Cochin 
than  in  other  parts  of  Malabar.  They  dwell  at  a  distance  of 
about  half  a  league  from  the  town  of  Cochin  possessing  a  bazaar, 
and  shops  of  all  kinds,  which  are  usually  closed  during  the  day, 
whilst  their  owners  are  engaged  in  business  in  the  town,  and 
opened  in  the  evening,  when  they  exhibit  their  wares  for  the 
native  purchasers.  The  women  do  not  mix  in  trade,  but  occupy 
themselves  in  household  carec.  They  are  generally  to  be  seen 
sitting  in  their  doorways,  gossiping  together.  If  a  European 
passes  by,  they  take  refuge  inside  the  house  but  their  heads  are 
soon  seen  peeping  out  at  him;  they  are  not  shy  of  talking  with 
our  women,  but  have  very  little  idea  of  conversation.  Their 
houses  are  congregated  in  clusters,  members  of  the  different  castes 
living  together. 

The  solemnities  observed  on  occasions  of  death  and  burial 
are  nearly  alike  among  all  races  of  Brahmins.  When 
the  Pandyt  or  physician  has  pronounced  that  there  is  no  hope  of 
life,  the  sick  man  makes  his  will,  and  bestows  some  presents  on 
his  daughters.  The  priest  then  comes,  and  enquires  what  heinous 
sins  he  has  committed,  exhorting  him  to  repentance  ;  his  head  is 
shaved,  and  he  is  washed  with  cold  water  for  the  purifying  of  his 
soul,  after  which  he  distributes  aims  and  presents  the  priest  wit*1 
a  good  milch  cow,  which  he  must  hold  by  the  tail  till  he  dies' 
Atter  his  demise  he  next  of  kin  must  have  their  heads  shaved  and 
let  their  beards  grow  as  a  sign  of  mourning.  The  corpse  is  covered 

14,  Note  14,  pp.  631—63;. 


14 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


with  a  white  linen  cloth,  and  carried  out  by  four  men  to  be  burnt, 
all  the  nearest  friends  and  neighbours  following  it  and  the  eldest 
son  leading  the  procession  and  carrying  the  fire  destined  to  con¬ 
sume  it.  When  the  party  reach  the  funeral  pyre,  which  with  the 
wealthy  is  generally  made  of  sandal  wood,  the  corpse  is  laid  upon 
it  and  the  son  kindles  the  flame  ;  on  the  following  day  the  ashes 
are  collected  and  thrown  into  the  river.  The  children  of  the 
decsased  must  remain  at  home  for  twelve  days  after  the  funeral, 
the  eldest  son  or  next  of  kin  dressi  ng  half  a  measure  of  rice  each 
day  and  making  it  into  three  balls,  which,  after  they  have  been  set 
on  the  ground,  are  thrown  into  the  water  tank  to  serve  as  food  for 
the  dead  man.  This  ceremony  is’repeated  every  month.  During  these 
twelve  days  of  the  first  mourning  the  survivors  may  only  eat  once 
in  the  day,  and  must  abstain  from  betel  chewing,  the  greatest  of 
all  penances  for  an  Indian.  On  the  first  anniversary  of  the  death 
they  give  a  great  feast  in  memory  cf  the  deceased  which  is 
repeated  every  year,  but  with  less  expense. 

By  the  laws  of  the  Canarese  sons  alone  inherit  15  and  that 
in  equal  shares; -the  daughters  are  entirely  excluded,  and  must  be 
content  with  their  marriage  portions  and  whatever  their  father 
may  have  given  them  in  his  life-time.  Unmarried  daughters  or 
widows,  however,  must  be  supported  by  their  brothers.  If  a  man 
has  no  son,  he  adopts  his  brother’s  son,  or  any  other  male  next 
of  kin. 

The  Canarese  are  divided  into  several  castes,  which  differ  in 
rank  and  sanctity,  but  have  similar  customs.  The  Brahmins  may 
follow  no  manual  or  commercial  occupation,  but  this  last  restric¬ 
tion  is  but  imperfectly  observed.  Most  of  them  are  priests,  who 
are  supported  by  the  Rajahs  or  the  other  Canarese;  somer  are 
pandyts  or  physicians.  The  castes  of  the  Pannekour  and  the 
Wannia  16  trade  in  all  things  which  have  not  had  life.  The 
Sonar  17  are  silversmiths,  many  of  whom  imitate  the  workmanship 
of  Europeans  very  skilfully.  The  Isuwede  and  the  Curronby  13 
carry  the  merchandize  of  the  other  Canarese,  and  labour  in  their 
gardens  and  farms.  The  Banda  are  soldiers;  they  are  not  found 
in  Cochin,  but  are  very  numerous  in  Canara  and  other  districts; 
the  Portuguese  make  use  of  the  services  of  those  who  have  em¬ 
braced  Christianity. 

The  festivals  of  the  Canarese  19  differ  from  those  of  the 

natives  of  Malabar,  because  among  these  heathens  each  nation 

—  •- 

15.  Note  IS,  P‘633- 

16.  Note  16,  p*  633. 

17.  Note  17,  pp.  633—34. 

18.  Note  18,  p.  634. 

7.9,  Note  19,  pp*  636— 40 


LETTER  XXII 


IS 

has  separate  tutelary  deities  in  whose  honour  they  hold  special 
feasts.  There  are  eleven  of  these  festivals  annually. 

(1)  The  first  is  Isamparocah  or  New  Year’s  day  which  is 
held  in  the  month  of  March,  when  the  days  and  nights  are  equal; 
at  this  season  he  Canarese  make  merry  and  wish  each  other  joy 
bathing  with  certain  ceremonies  and  putting  on  new  apparel; 
the  priests  announce,  from  their  astrological  observations,  which 
will  prove  unluckly  days  in  the  ensuing  year. 

(2)  Timnal  is  solemnised  in  the  month  of  April,  when  any 
one  who  chooses  may  go  to  the  pagoda  seven  days  in  succession 
and  receive  food ,  which  it  is  the  business  of  the  wealthy  persons 
of  their  nation  to  provide.  This  feast  is  held  in  honour  of  the 
building  of  their  Pagodas.  At  night  lamps  are  lighted,  and  they 
make  all  kinds  of  rejoicing,  and  adorn  the  elephants  belonging 
to  the  Pagodas  with  costly  housings  making  their  Sombail  before 
them. 

(2)  The  feast  of  Mantjemy  is  held  in  July  in  honour  of  the 
cobra  capella  to  which  they  offer  milk  and  sandalwood,  placing 
them  in  the  tree  which  the  reptile  inhabits. 

(4)  Tzontam,  Pounon  is  solemnised  in  August,  when  they 
wind  round  their  necks  a  new  thread,  the  token  of  their  high  caste; 
this  service  is  performed  for  them  (whilst  they  bend  in  reverence 
before  the  fire )  by  the  priests,  who  receive  some  fanams  in 

return. 

(5)  Asiamy  in  the  same  month,  is  a  day  of  penitence,  when 
they  abstain  for  food  and  drink  for  2  hours,  and  implore  for¬ 
giveness  for  their  sins. 

(6)  W me  Szoute ,  a  festival  which  lasts  three  or  four  days,  is 
celebrated  in  September,  in  honour  of  their  God  Gonnipatti  whose 
image  they  form  at  that  season,  of  wood,  stone,  or  silver,  accord¬ 
ing  to  their  means  and  piety.  They  affirm  that  this  deity  was 
born  on  a  mountain,  having  four  arms  and  the  trunk  of  an  ele¬ 
phant;  and  that  they  were  divinely  commanded  to  keep  this 
festival  in  bis  honour. 

(7)  Ten  days  after  this  is  kept  Ije  Hordesjet  a  feast  of 
rejoicing  for  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  It  is  celebrated  in  the 
pagodas,  which  are  hung  round  with  pvery  species  of  fruit  that  can 
be  procured;  and,  as  in  the  Jewish  feast  of  Tabernacles  (at  least  as 
kept  in  this  country),  the  worshippers  erect  in  their  villages  booths 
of  green  palm  leaves  and  suspend  various  fruits  around  them. 
This  feast  of  the  Canarese  is  attended  ty  the  Rajah  of  Cochin  in 
person. 

(8)  Mannemyt  the  feast  of  the  school  children,  is  a  sort  of 
holiday  to  that  class,  when  they' are  released  from  school  for  nine 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


16 

days  and  go  about  the  houses  of  the  Canarese  singing  and  dressed 
in  their  costliest  attire:  they  sometimes  enter  the  town  on  these 
occasions  in  their  holiday  trim, 

(9)  Dewaly ,  is  a  feast  celebrated  at  the  end  of  October  in 
memory  of  an  act  of  divine  benevolence,  by  which  they  were 
delivered  from  a  powerful  giant  called  Nabakasser,  who  had  put 
to  death  many  persons  in  their  country.  On  this  occasion  the 
people  annoint  themselves  at  night  with  oil,  and  bathe,  and  in  the 
morning  rub  their  bodies  with  powder  ground  from  sandalwood; 
throughout  the  day  they  make  great  banquets,  and  at  night 
illuminate  the  lamps  all  round. 

(10)  Terou%  is  the  feast  of  pagodas,  when  their  idol  Vltnke 
Tapatik s  placed  on  a  triumphal  car  and  carried  about  in  state. 
To  assist  in  drawing  this  car  is  regarded  as  a  mark  of  sanctity, 
and  in  some  countries  the  people  suffer  themselves  to  be  crushed 
under  its  wheels;  here  however  they  are  wiser.  The  car  is  drawn 
on  amidst  shouting  multitudes,  to  the  sound  of  music  and  drums, 
some  climbing  upon  it,  others  hanging  to  its  sides  like  burrs, 
whilst  others  strew  cocoanuts  to  be  crushed  under  it;  the  Baya 
deres  dancing  around  it  all  the  time.  This  festival  takes  place 

at  the  end  of  November, 

(11)  -  In  February  is  the  feast  of  Chigma  or  Fortune.  For 
ten  days  before  it  begins,  drums  are  beaten  every  evening,  and  the 
people  adorn  themselves  with  flowers  till  the  period  of  the  full 
moon,  when  the  festival  commences,  and  is  celebrated  with  great 
solemnity  and  many  extravagances.  Boats  full  of  water  colored 
with  turmeric  are  placed  ''in  the  bazaars,  and  the  people  plunge 
into  them,  or  sprinkle  themselves  with  the  contents,  and  run 
about  in  troops  with  drummers  and  trumpeters;  in  the  evening 
they  have  exhibitions  of  giants  and  giantesses,  which  are  made 

to  dance  by  persons  placed  inside  them,  or  of  ships,  elephants 

/ 

and  other  works  of  art.  In  the  meantime,  the  dancing  girls 
exhibit  their  skill,  the  canarese  joining  in  the  dance;  whilst  others 
carry  about  long  areca  trees  on  their  shoulders,  running  as  if 

they  were  mad,  the  old  and  the  idle  hurrying  about  with  them, 

»  • 

and  exhausting  their  small  strength.  T  hese  areca  trees  are 
wound  round  with  c/as  and  ^re  finally  burnt,  in  memory  of  the 
terrible  giant  Kammetja  Scressel  who  was  burnt  by  their  deity. 

So  much  for  the  festivals  of  the  Canarese.  They  have  a 
bishop  who  resides  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges  20  ,and  who  takes  a 
journey  once  in  eleven  or  twelve  years  to  visit  his  flock  in  distant 


20.  Note  20  pp.  640—42. 


LETTER  XXII 


i7 


countries.  He  wears  no  splendid  habiliments,  but  has  only  a 
cloth  wound  around  him,  a  proof  of  sanctity  in  the  eyes  of  these 
benighted  people.  They  are  bound,  when  he  comes  among  them, 
to  give  him  the  tithe  of  their  property,  but  I  will  not  vouch  for 
their  conscientious  performance  of  this  duty,  however,  the  bishop 
always  returns  laden  with  treasures  to  the  banks  of  the  Ganges, 
where  he  inhabits  a  large  dwelling  in  which  all  the  pilgrims  who 
flock  by  thousands  to  that  river  receive  food  and  lodging. 

The  third  class  of  foreigners  who  are  met  with  in  Malabar 
are  called  Jogis?1  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  all  the  Jogis  are 
Brahmins;  they  are  composed  of  persons  from  various  heathen 
nations  who  have  bound  themselves  by  a  vow  to  wander  about  as 
pilgrims  either  for  a  term  of  years,  or  for  their  whole  lives,  gain¬ 
ing  their  livelihood  by  mendicancy.  They  pretend  to  a  peculiar 

4 

degree  of  holiness,  and  the  more  to  impress  this  upon  the  people, 
and  to  work  on  their  liberality,  they  wear  the  scantiest  clothing, 
and  disfigure  themselves  frightfully,  covering  themselves  with 
ashes,  and  letting  their  hair  and  nails  grow  to  an  inordinate 
length,  till  they  look  like  monsters.  Some  carry  instruments  of 
torture  to  castigate  their  persons,  the  more  to  mislead  the  poor 
people.  They  sit  idle  the  whole  day  with  no  occupation  but 
tobacco  smoking:  and  when  they  want  something  to  eat,  they 
merely  ask  for  it,  having  so  little  modesty  that  if  it  is  not 
given  them,  they  scold  in  ,lhe  strongest  terms,  not  sparing  the 
Rajahs  themselves.  They  will  sometimes  sit  down  before  a 
man's  door  and  refuse  to  stir  till  they  have  got  what  they  want. 
I  can  believe  that  some  may  adopt  this  mode  of  life  from  a  vain 
notion  of  religion,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  most  of  them  are 
great  rogues.  European  Jews  and  Christians  are  sometimes  found 
among  them,  who  join  them  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  fine  Jewels, 
which  are  often  bestowed  on  the  Jogis  by  the  superstitious  people 
of  Bengal,  Coromandel,  and  Golconda:  they  then  sell  their  ac¬ 
quisitions  by  stealth,  and  conceal  the  money  in  some  secure  place 
as  they  may  not  carry  it  about  with  them. 

With  these  Jogis  may  be  classed  the  fakirs,  mussulman  pill- 
grim  s  who  live  in  like  manner  by  mendicancy,  and  in  the  Mogul 
kingdom  are  often  the  recipients  of  the  splendid  presents  which 
are  given  to  the  monarch.  This  coast  is  annually  visited  by  fakirs 
from  the  East  Indian  islands,  on  their  way  to  Mecca  and  Medina, 
who  generally  return  wearing  dark  grey  cloaks  they  have  received 
there,  garments  which  are  so  highly  venerated  that  all  their  fellow- 
mussulmans  kiss  them;  and  these  black  mahometans,  many  of 
whom  look  like  thorough  rogues,  are  held  a  great  and  learned 
me  n  when  they  return  to  their  homes. 

21  Note  21,  pp.  642 — 49. 


.  ' 

. 


■ 


- 


'  * 


NOTES  ON 


Visscher’s 

LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR. 

LETTER  XX. 

Introductory  Notes.  Having  in  his  previous 
Letters  given  us  an  account  of  the  Christians,  Jews  and 
Mahomedans  inhabiting  Malabar,  our  author  proceeds 
in  this  to  say  something  of  the  Hindu  population;  but, 
as  he  seems  to  confine  himself  to  certain  particular 
sections  of  the  community,  without  giving  us  a  compre¬ 
hensive  idea  of  the  majority  of  Hindus  inhabiting 
Malabar,  we  propose  to  say  a  few  words  here  regarding 
the  various  sections  that  comprise  the  Hindu  population 
of  that  part  of  Southern  India. 

The  inhabitants  of  Malabar  may  broadly  be  divid¬ 
ed  into  aborginies  and  settlers.  Under  the  first  head 
may  be  classed  the  Cherumars,  Vettuvars,  Pulayars, 
etc.,  who  are  agrestic  slaves,  and  the  jungle  tribes, 
known  as  Radars,  Malaya rs,  Pariars,  Kurichyars, 
Kurumbars,  etc.  Under  the  second  head  come  the 
Nambutirls,  Nayars  and  Tiers.  The  orthodox  view  in 
Malabar  is  that  the  graduated  series  of  castes  and  pro¬ 
fessions  that  go  to  form  modern  Malabar  society  were 
brought  into  the  country  by  ParaSu  Rama  and  planted 
there  in  their  full  growth.  It  is  indeed  unphilosophical 
to  think  of  a  society  cropping  up  all  at  once  in  a  barren 
soil,  as  if  by  the  wave  of  a  magical  wand.  Much  more 
is  it  unphilosophical  to  think  of  such  a  society  follow¬ 
ing  at  his  bidding  a  man,  though  represented  to  be  an 
incarnation  of  Vi§hnu,  to  a  foreign  country  leaving 
behind  them  their  cherished  hearths  and  homes.  Such 
a  theory,  however  acceptable  in  the  eye  of  the  orthodox 
believer,  does  not  give  scope  to  natural  development 


2 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 

That  the  various  races  now  inhabiting  Malabar  are  not 
indigenous  to  the  country  is  more  or  less  true.  They 
are  indeed  colonists  from  foreign  climes.  But  to  hold 
that  the  whole  fabric  of  Malabar  society  was  by  an 
effort  of  human  exertion  plucked  by  a  single  indivi¬ 
dual,  root  and  branch,  from  its  native  soil  and  planted 
in  its  full  growth  in  a  strange  land  would  be,  at  the 
very  best,  but  chimerical.  Successive  settlements 
must  have  been  made  by  immigrants  from  the  north, 
who,  in  the  onward  rush  of  races,  sought  ‘  fresh  fields 
and  pastures  new  ’  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  Peninsula* 
It  would  be  difficult  at  present  to  ascertain  the  order 
in  which  the  various  colonies  arrived  in  Malabar. 

According  to  the  Jati  Nirnnaya,  a  poetical  work  in 
Sanskrit  dealing  with  the  various  castes  inhabiting 
Malabar,  said  to  have  been  composed  by  Sankaracharya, 
there  are  seventy-two  castes  in  Kerala,  not  including  the 
Kshetriyas  and  VaisySs.  Of  Kshetriyas,  it  is  supposed 
that  there  are  but  few  families  absolutely  pure.  The 
Solar  line  is  said  to  have  become  extinct,  and  of  Lunar 
line  there  are  a  couple  of  houses  or  so  alleged  still  to 
exist.  The  Vaisyas  are,  like  ‘snakes  in  Iceland’,  a 
class  that  does  not  exist  in  Malabar.  Barring  these,  the 
seventy-two  existing  castes  are  said  to  be  made  up  in 
the  following  manner,  viz 

There  are  eight  classes  of  Brahmans,  two  classes 
of  Nyuna  Jatls  or  “  defective  castes  twelve  classes  of 
An^arda  Jatls  or  “intermediate  castes  .eighteen 
classes  of  Sudras;  six  classes  of  Silpi  or  artisans  ;  ten 
classes  of  Patita  Jatls  or  “degraded  castes”,  eight 
classes  of  Nlcha  or  “  polluted  ”  castes  and  eight  classes 
of  extra  castes. 

Most  of  the  above  have  sub-divisions.  Thus  the 
eight  classes  of  Brahmans  are  divided  into : — 

(1)  Taipprakal  or  Brahman  rulers  and  high 

priests. 

(2)  Acjhyans — leaders  of  the  aristocracy  of 

Malabar,  sacrificersand  expounders  of  the 

Vedas, 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


3 


Introd.] 

(3)  Visishta-Brahmanan-distinguished  Brahmans 

noted  for  rank,  learning  and  sanctity. 

(4)  Samanya-Brahmanan — ordinary  Brahmans. 

(5)  Jatimatreyan — Brahman  in  name;  one  who 

is  ‘  barely  in  the  caste  ’. 

(6)  Samk^tikan — those  who  once  deserted  Mala¬ 

bar  but  returned  soon. 

v7)  Sapagrastan —  the  accursed,  because  they 
doubted  the  divine  nature  of  Parasu  Rama. 

(8)  Papishtan — the  sinful ;  various  faults  being 
traditionally  alleged  against  them. 

Of  the  above,  the  third  class,  i.  c.,  Visishta  Brahma- 
nan  is  again  divided  into: — (1)  Akkittiri,  {2)  SomaySji 
or  Chomatiri  and  (3)  Atitiri.  These  attain  their  position 
by  virtue  of  the  performance  of  yagas  or  sacrifices. 

The  fifth  class,  i.  e .,  the  Jatimatreyans  have  four 
sub-classes,  viz. : — 

(1)  Ashta  Vaidyans  or  the  eight  physicians. 

(2)  Sastfangakkar — those  who  .obtained  arms 

from  Parasu  Rama  to  defend  and  protect 
Malabar.  They  practise  a  sort  of  thea¬ 
trical  performance  known  as  Yatrakkaji 
elsewhere  described. 

(3)  Those  who  gave  up  the  study  of  the  Vedas, 
either  on  account  of  being  subject  to  incurable  diseases, 

e.>  physical  disabilities  or  on  account  of  extreme 
poverty,  and  so  compelled  to  seek  their  livelihood  by 
some  other  means. 

(4)  Those  who  have  become  slaves  to  passions 
and  therefore  neglected  the  study  of  the  Vedas  and 
sought  their  livelihood  roaming  about  in  various  garbs 
and  professions. 

The  sixth,  i.  e .,  the  Samketikans  have  six  sub 
divisions  amongst  them,  and  they  are  known  as  Em 
prans  or  Emprantirls.  The  six  sub-divisions  are:-  • 

(1)  Akkaradesi,  (2)  IkkaradeSi,  (3)  Trppuni{tufades 
(4;  TiruvelladeSi,  (5)  Karnatakadgsi  and  (6)  Tuiudgsi 


4 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L,  20* 


The  eighth  class  has  five  sub-divisions,  viz : — 

(1)  Those  who  received  ik'nam  (gift)  from  Para§u 
Rama — called  Graminis. 

(2)  Those  Gramanis  who  gave  permission  to 
assasinate  Bhutaraya  Perumal,  one  of  the  early  kings 
of  KSraia. 

(3)  Those  who  perpetrated  the  deed,  known  as 
Nampadls. 

(4)  The  liayatus  or  priests  of  the  Sudras. 

(5)  Those  inhabitants  of  the  Payyannur  Gramam 
who  possibly  ejected  the  idol  of  Varahamurtti. 

The  two  classes  of  Nyuna  Jatls  are  the  Ilayatu  and 
the  Muttatu,  u  e .,  the  “  junior  ”  and  the  “  senior.’ ’ 
The  defect  considered  in  the  one  being  administering  to 
the  Sraddha  or  death-annual  ceremonies  of  the  Sudras, 

99  9 

and  in  the  other,  partaking  of  food  served  to  the  god 
Siva. 

The  twelve  classes  of  Antarala  or  intermediate 

9 

castes,  i.  e .,  those  who  are  placed  midway  between  the 
brahmans  and  Sudras  and  generally  known  as  Ampala- 
vasis  or  temple  servants  are  :  — 

(1)  Atikal,  slaves,  (2)  Pushpakan,  florist,  (3) 
Nampissan,  (4)  Puppalli,  (5)  Pisharoti,  (6)  Variar,  (7) 
Chakkyar,  (8)  Nampyar,  (9)  Tiyyattunni,  (10)  Pitaran, 
and  (12)  Nattupattar. 

The  eighteen  classes  of  so-called  Sudras  are: — 

(1)  Kiriyattil  Nayar — independent  Nayar. 

(2)  Illakkar — Nayar  families  attached  to  certain 
Nambutiri  illoms  (families). 

(3)  Swarupakkar — servants  in  Kshetriya  houses. 

(4)  Padamangalam — servants  in  temples. 

(5)  Tamilpadam — those  who  refused  to  accept 
polyandry  and  Marumakkattayam,  i.  e.,  inheritance  in 
the  female  line. 

(6)  Itacheri  Nayar — shepherds  and  dairymen. 

(7)  Maran — drummers  and  musicians  in  temples. 

(8)  Chempukotti — copper  smiths  (not  the  Goa 
Christian). 

(9)  Udattu  Nayar — tile-maker  for  temples. 


5 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

(io)  Paiiichsn — palankeen  bearer  for  Rajas. 

(n)  Matavan — servants  to  Brahmans  and  others, 
down  to  Ampalavasis. 

(12)  Kalamkotti — potter. 

(13)  Vattakkatan  or  Chakkala  Nayar — oil  mongers 
for  temples. 

(14)  Attikurussi — one  who  officiates  at  the 
funerals  of  Nayars.  He  is  also  called  Chitian. 

(15)  Chetti — merchant,  selling  curry-stuffs  etc. 

(16)  Chalian — weaver. 

(17)  Veluttetan — washerman. 

f  Velakkattalavan  ] 

(18)  <  or  >  barber. 

(  Kshurakakaran  J 

The  six  classes  of  Silpi  or  artizans  are  ■ 

(1)  Asar«i — carpenter. 

(2)  MusSri — brazier. 

(3)  Kallasari — stone-mason. 

(4)  T  attan — gol  d  s  m  i  th . 

(s'*  Kalian — blacksmith. 

(6)  Trchakkollan — sawyer. 

The  ten  classes  of  Patita  or  degraded  classes  are: — 

(1)  Kaniyan — astrologer. 

(2)  Vilkurup — bow-maker  and  painter. 

(3)  Kurup — box-maker. 

(4)  Tole  Kufup — maker  of  shields  and  other 
articles  of  leather. 

(5)  Velan  or  Mannan — sorcerer;  does  also 
washing  for  classes  below  Nayars. 

(6)  Panan — tailor. 

(7)  Paravan — lime  burner. 

cocoanut-tree-climber 
and  distiller. 

(9)  Mukkuvan — sea  fisherman. 

(10)  Valan — river  and  back-water  fisherman. 

The  eight  classes  of  Nlcha  or  polluted  castes  are: — 
Of  the  plains,  four,  viz. : — 

(1)  Parayan—labourers  and  basket-makers. 

(2)  Pulayan — agrestic  slaves. 


\  Iluvan  or  Chogan 
W  ( or  Tlyan 


6  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

(3)  Nayati — hunters  or  dog-beaters.  They  are 
beggars. 

(4)  Uiiatan — wood  cutters. 

And  of  the  hills  four,  viz.  : — 

(1)  Kurumbar  or  Kuravan. 

^2)  Malayarayan — hill  cultivator. 

(3)  Mala  Velan  or  Vetan — hunter. 

(4)  Kaniyan — also  hunters. 

The  eight  extra  Jatls  are : — 

(1)  Ammomanmar — the  Nambutiri  inhabitants  of 
Payyannur  Gram  mam. 

(2)  Nampidi  with  Brahmanical  thread. 

(3)  Do  without  do  do 

(4)  Putuvai 

(5)  Piiapiiiy. 

(6)  Samantan. 

(7)  Karivelattu  Nayar. 

(8)  Veilalars  of  Nannanad. 

The  above  is  the  scheme  of  the  Jati  Nirrujaya.  It 
furnishes  us  with  a  list  of  castes  showing  the  compar¬ 
ative  estimate  in  which  the  respective  castes  were  held 
by  the  early  law-givers  of  Malabar.  Beyond  this,  there 
is  no  attempt  made  to  arrange  them  on  any  recognised 
principle.  When  we  proceed  to  give  an  account  of  the 
origin  and  history  of  the  various  castes,  as  can  be 
gathered  from  indigenous  works  and  tradition,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  above  arrangement  is  highly  conventional, 
embodying  some  absurd  prejudices  and  traditions  and 
making  the  number  oi  castes  to  accord  with  theory 
rather  than  historical  facts  and  existing  circumstances. 
The  classification  is  altogether  faulty.  Not  simply  that 
there  are  cross  divisions,  e.  g.,  Eiayaju  coming  both  in 
the  Papishtan  subdivision  of  the  Brahmans  and  in  the 
class  of  Nyunajatis  which  forms  one  of  the  main  divis¬ 
ions,  but  also  that  various  professions  are  jumbled 
together  without  any. regard  to  their  relative  value  or 
position.  Thus  those  who  follow  the  nobler  profession 
of  medicine  and  surgery  are  classed  along  with  common 
soldiers  and  theatrical  performers  and  the  whole  lot  is 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  7 

said  to  be  “barely  in  the  caste” — Jstimatfeyan — Brah¬ 
mans  merely  in  name.  Again,  Brahmans  who  preside 
at  the  Sraddha  or  death-annual  ceremony  of  the  Nayars 
are  placed  on  the  same  level  with  murderers,  and  both 
come  under  the  class  of  Papi§htan  or  the  ‘sinful’.  One 
can  understand  the  sin  committed  by  a  murderer,  but 
what  is  the  heinous  sin  committed  by  the  ‘twice-born’ 
individual  who  unfortunately  took  it  into  his  head  to 
minister  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  so-called  Sudra  ? 
Is  his  brother,  the  Muttatu  or  ‘the  senior’,  he  himself 
being  only  an  ‘  Elayatu  ’  *or  junior’,  both  together  go-  * 
ing  to  form  the  Nyuna  Jati  or  defective  caste,  also  a 
sinful  man?  Apparently  he  is,  for  he  has  committed  the 
unpardonable  sin  of  partaking  of  food  offered  to  the 
god  Siva.1  His  duty  is  to  carry  the  idol  of  Siva  in  pro¬ 
cession  round  the  temple,  to  sweep  and  clean  the 
shrine,  except  the  Sanctum  Sanctorum ,  guard  the  idol, 
to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  temple,  & c.  And  these 
are  sinful  duties,  and  on  a  par  with  these  is  placed  the 
other  sinful  duty  of  administering  to  the  spiritual  needs 
of  a  Sudra  !  And  Nsyars  are  classed  as  Sudras  ! 

The  castes  of  Malabar  are  said  to  have  a  racial, 
marital  and  functional  basis.  In  their  origin,  it  might 
have  been  so.  But  a  classification  on  these  lines 
can  scarcely  be  satisfactory  at  present.  There  has 
been  in  course  of  time  such  a  commingling  of  races 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  say  with  any  degree  of 
certainty  that  a  particular  caste  is  Aryan  or  Dravidian. 
The  Nambutiri  Brahmans  claim  to  be  pure  Aryans, 
perhaps,  with  some  justification.  They  belong  to  the  Arya 
Varija  or  noble  race  characterised  by  their  broad  fore¬ 
head,  regular  features  and  fair  colour.  Others  with  coarse 
feature  and  dark  complexion  may  be  said  to  belong  to 
the  Dravidian  family.  It  is  possible  and  indeed  most  pro¬ 
bable  that  the  Anfarda  Jstls  or  the  intermediate  castes 
and  the  Samkara  Jstls  or  mixed  castes,  which  name, 
however,  does  not  find  a  place  in  the  Jati  Nir^aya,  are 
i,  See  Kerala  Mahalwyam^  p,  42,  para  24, 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

the  result  of  either  mixed  marriages  or  of  the  illicit 
connection  between  the  two  races.  The  progeny  of 
women  by  husbands  superior  to  their  caste  are  known 
as  Anulomajas,  while  the  issue  of  all  unholy  alliances, 
that  is,  sexual  relations  of  men  of  lower  castes  with 
women  of  higher  castes  go  by  the  name  of  Pfatilomajas. 
A  classification  on  the  basis  of  traditional  occupation 
will  be  altogether  unsatisfactory.  For,  as  remarked  by 
Mr.  Risely,  “  it  accords  neither  with  native  tradition 
and  practice,  nor  with  any  theory  of  caste  that  has  ever 
been  propounded  by  students  of  the  subject.  In 
different  parts,  it  proceeds  on  different  principles,  with 
the  result  that  on  the  one  hand  it  separates  groups 
which  are  really  allied,  and  on  the  other  includes  in 
the  same  category  groups  of  widely  different  origin 
and  status.  It  is  in  fact  a  patch-work  classification  in 
which  occupation  predominates,  varied  here  and  there 
by  considerations  of  caste  history,  tradition,  ethnical 
affinity  and  geographical  position.”  As  observed  by 
the  Cochin  Census  Reporter,  “  the  struggle  for  exist¬ 
ence  in  modern  times  has  compelled  many  castes  to 
give  up  their  time-honoured  traditional  occupations  in 
favour  of  more  lucrative  ones,  so  that  a  classification 
based  upon  that  principle  cannot  but  be  defective*  All 
Brahmans  are  not  priests  now,  nor  are  all  K§hejfiyas 
warriors.  A  Tarakan  (  Chetty  )  is  not  the  only  mer¬ 
chant  or  shop-keeper,  nor  a  Pulayan  the  only  agricul¬ 
tural  labourer.  A  scheme  in  which  the  priestly  class 
of  Nambutirls  (Brahmans)  and  Vailuvans  (the  priests 
of  the  Parayans),  the  military  class  of  K§he{riyas  and 
and  Nayars,  the  mercantile  class  of  Vaniians  and 
Jonaka  Mappiias  (  Mahomedans  )  &c.,  are  grouped 
together  on  the  score  of  having  once  followed  or  now 
following  similar  occupations,  while  it  might  show  to 
what  extent  traditional  occupations  have  been  given 
up' by  castes  that  once  followed  them,  cannot  certainly 
be  regarded  as  assigning  to  each  caste  its  exact 
position  in  society 

x.  Pp.  133 — 4* 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  9 

The  test  of  social  precedence  is  no  less  objection¬ 
able.  For,  though  in  Malabar  the  castes  are  sharply 
marked  off  as  those  ‘polluting’  and  not  ‘polluting,’ 
whether  by  contact  or  by  proximity,  it  will  be  some¬ 
what  difficult,  in  the  face  of  caste  quarrels  and  jealous¬ 
ies,  to  found  a  scientific  classification  on  the  degree  of 
pollution  imparted — an  almost  imaginary  and  vanishing 
test. 

An  attempt  may,  however,  be  made  to  classify  the 
castes  on  the  basis  of  the  rules  regarding  endogamy, 
exogamy  and  hypergamy,  the  period  of  ceremonial  pol¬ 
lution  and  the  performance  of  purificatory  ceremonies 
which  are  supposed  to  determine  social  precedence. 
But  these,  in  course  of  time,  have  been  so  elaborated, 
in  an  infinite  variety  of  detail,  that  it  would  be  an 
invidious  task  to  attempt  any  exact  classification  in 
the  order  of  social  precedence,  perhaps  the  only  basis 
left. 

The  Nambutiri  Brahmans  of  Malabar  are  very 
strict  in  preserving  the  purity  of  their  race,  and  to  that 
end  they  confine  their  marriages  within  their  own 
class,  so  much  so  that  the  Vedic  or  Ottulla 
Nambutiris  would  not  intermarry  with  the  non- 
V^dic  or  Ottillatta  Nambutiris.  Neither  will  the 
Makkattayam  Nambutiris  intermarry  with  the 
Marumakkattayam  Nambutiris  of  Payyannur  Gramom. 
While  thus  jealously  guarding  the  purity  of  their  own 
race,  they  not  simply  tolerate  but,  by  virtue  of  their 
position  of  influence  in  religion  and  society,  enforce  the 
rule  of  hypergamy  or  women‘marrying  up’in  castes  below 
them.  Thus  the  Kshatriyas,  the  class  that  comes  just 
after  them  in  the  Malabar  heirarchy  of  castes,  to  which 
belong  a  large  number  of  Malabar  princes,  can  scarcely 
claim  to  have  preserved  the  purity  of  their  race,  if 
they  ever  did  belong  to  the  Hindu  caste  of  Kshatriyas 
proper  at  any  time.  For,  according  to  the  Malabar 
system,  the  rule  of  hypergamy  begins  with  these. 
Their  women  are,  indeed,  allowed  to  go  through  the 
ceremonies  of  Brahman  marriage  to  their  minutest 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


10 


[L.  20 


details,  but  the  pseudo  husband  need  not  continue  to  be 
the  lifelong  helpmate  of  the  woman  at  whose  marriage 
ceremony  he  merely  officiates.  Hence  the  rule  of  hyper- 
gamy  authorises  the  woman  to  take  for  her  partner,  so 
long  as  she  pleases,  any  one  of  the  Nambutiri  class  also 
of  the  Brahman  caste  generally  at  present.  She  is  not 
at  the  same  time  prevented  from  allying  herself  with 
one  of  her  own  caste.  The  men  may  consort  with 
their  own  caste  women  as  also  with  women  of  the 
Antaraia  and  Nayar  castes.  Thus  it  becomes  clear  that 
the  pure  Kshatriya  blood,  if  it  had  ever  flown  in  their 
veins,  must  have  become  altogether  diluted  at  present. 
However,  those  of  their  women  who  had  mated  them¬ 
selves  with  the  Nambutiris,  generation  after  generation, 
must  have  been  the  means  of  improving  and  purifying 
the  race  rather  than  degrading  it,  while  the  very  few 
assorting  with  mates  of  their  own  caste  could  not  have 
certainly  lowered  the  race.  Hence^  we  .may  say 
with  the  authors  of  the  Malabar  Gazetteer  -that,  “  it 
is  clear  that,  if  the  expression  Kshatriya  is  to  have  any 
ethnological  signification,  it  cannot  be  applied  with 
any  appropriateness  to  a  class  who  practise  hypergamy 
and  are  therefore  admittedly  of  hybrid  race  ”, 
unless  it  be  by  agreeing  with  them  when  they  go  further 
and  add  that,  “racially  .no  doubt  Kshatriyas  and 
Samantas  were  originally  Nayars.  ”  There  are  those 
who  say  that  there  is  no  basis  for  the  statement,  so  far 
at  any  rate  as  the  Kshatriyas  are  concerned,  unless  one 
holds  that,  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  Malabar,  the  ances¬ 
tors  of  the  present  Nambutiris  alone  belonged  to  the 
Aryan  race,  who  made  settlements  from  the  north,  and 
that  the  classes  below  them  were  all  Dravidians  who 
had  preceded  them.  The  theory  cannot  be  said  to  be 
altogether  incorrect.  Nor  is  it  without  its  supporters. 
It  has  been  observed  by  competent  authorities  that  the 
ruling  chiefs  of  Southern  India  originally  belonged  to 
the  aborginal  races  and  that,  after  the  Brahmans  had 
subdued  them  by  their  intellectual  superiority,  they 
succeeded  in  investing  them  with  a  halo  of  political 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  H 

sanctity,  in  furtherance  of  their  own  selfish  ends,  by 
supplying  them  with  geneologies  tracing  their  descent 
from  the  Solar  and  Lunar  lines  of  K§ha{riyas  of  the 
PurSrtic  age.  “  The  Aryan  immigrants  to  the  South,’’ 
says  Dr.  Caldwell,  “  appear  to  have  been  generally 
Brahmanical  priests  and  instructors  rather  than 
K§hatriya  soldiers ;  and  the  kings  of  the  P£9<Jyas» 
Cholas,  Kalingas  and  other  Dravidians  appear  to  have 
been  simply  Dravidian  chieftains  whom  their  Brahma¬ 
nical  preceptors  and  spiritual  directors  dignified  with 
Aryan  titles  and  taught  to  imitate  and  emulate  the 
grandeur  and  cultured  tastes  of  the  Solar,  Lunar 
and  Agnikula  race  of  kings.  m  Again  we  read  in  the 
Manual  of  the  Trie  kino  poly  District  that  “  the  Chola 
and  Paridya  kings  are  of  course  held  by  natives  to 
have  been  K§hatriyas;  but  there  is  no  evidence  that 
they  have  the  slightest  claim  to  be  considered  as  such 
It  may  appear  worthy  of  remark  that  their  caste  title 
was  Deva,  the  same  as  that  of  the  Maravars  at  pre* 
sent*  ”2 

The  rule  of  hypergamy  -prevails  among  the  Anta- 
ralaand  Nayar  castes  also,  so  that,  in  its  strictest  working* 
one  may  say  with  the  authors  of  The  Malabar  Gazetteer 
that  “it  is  difficult  to  see  what  material  difference  in 
blood  there  can  be  between  Nambupris  themselves 
and  those  lower  castes  whether  styling  themselves 
Nayar,  Samanta  or  K§hatriya  who  follow  the  Maru« 
makkattayam  family  law  and  restrict  their  women  folk 
to  Nambutiri  consorts.”3 

Intensely  exclusive  as  the  Malabar  caste  system 
affects  to  be,  there  are  evident  traces  of  accessions  to 
even  the  superior  castes  by  means  of  a  silent  and  almost 
inappreciable  process.  Even  the  jealous  vigilance  of 
the  exclusive  Nambutiri  has  not  been  successful  in 
keeping  out  other  and  foreign  elements  from  entering 
the  bounds  of  his  charmed  circle.  There  have  been 

1.  Comparative  Grammar ,  Introduction,  p,  115 

2.  See  also, Caldwell,  p.  533, 

3.  Vol.  I,  p.  1 1 2. 


12  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20  . 

well-known  instances  of  Embrantiris,  who  are 
Brahmans  of  Canarese  and  Tulu  origin,  with  whom  the 
Nambutiris  as  a  class  do  not  intermarry,  slowly  and 
cautiously  trespassing  into  the  Nambutiri  fold.  The 
Nambutiris  ever  watchful  of  their  rights  and  privileges 
oppose  the  Embrantiris  in  their  sly  attempt;  but,  in 
spite  of  their  vigilance*  the  latter  have  succeeded  in 
many  instances  in  obtaining  a  firm  footing  among  the 
Nambutiris.  Embi'antiris  of  wealth  and  position  begin 
by  purchasing  large  Jenmam  or  free-hold  estates  and 
get  themselves  described  as  Nambutiris  in  the 
documents  of  purchase.  They  then  make  a  movement 
towards  getting  themselves  enrolled  as  belonging  to  the 
Nambutiri  class  entitled  to  participate  in  the  great 
ceremonies  to  which  Nambutiris  alone  are  eligible. 
In  these  prosaic  days. of  utilitarian  ideas,  it  is  not  often 
difficult  to  those  hovering  round  the  outskirts  of  the 
charmed  circle  to  open  its  closed  doors  by  means  of  a 
golden  key,  specially  when  such  doors  are  under  the 
lock  and  ward  of  those  who  are  not  rich  and  not  over- 
scrupulous  in  letting  in  those  who  are  able  to  grease 
well  their  itchy  palms. 

The  Samantas  who  claim  to  be  Kshatriyas,  or,  at 
any  rate,  Antaraias,  must  originally  have  been  Nayars 
who  have  raised  themselves  by  restricting  their  alliances 
exclusively  to  the  Brahmans.  We  learn  from  early 
Portuguese  writers  that  the  princesses  of  the  Zamorin’s 
family  who  are  Eradis  by  caste  were  not  allowed  to 
consort  with  any  one  below  the  rank  of  a  Nayar. 
That  even  so  late  as  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  this  remained  to  be  the  rule  appears  from 
what  Dr.  Francis  Buchanan  says.1  And  in  a  suit 
between  the  Nilambur  Tirumulpad,  who  claims  to 
be  a  Samanja  and  the  Collector  of  Malabar  in  1888, 
the  District  Judge  of  South  Malabar  held  that  the 
plaintiff  was  only  a  Nayar  and  that  there  was  no  distinct 
caste  known  as  Samanfas.2 

1.  Vol.  II,  p.  83. 

2.  Moore’s  Malabar  Law%  pp,  345-“ 46,  Nole, 


13 


lntrod.1  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

in  our  own  day,  we  see  a  process  of  so-called  ele¬ 
vation  in  caste  going  on  in  the  upper  and  middle  strata 
of  Nsyar  society.  As  a  Nuyar  advances  in  life,  amasses 
wealth,  attains  a  commanding  official  position  and  se¬ 
cures  sufficient  social  influence,  he  begins  slowly  to 
drop  one  by  one  his  associations  with  those  of  his  own 
class,  arrogates  to  himself  social  superiority  over  them, 
pretends  that  the  females  of  his  family  can  consort  only 
with  Nambutirls  who  pander  to  his  idiosyncracies  readi¬ 
ly,  and  if  necessary,  invent  for  him  a  respectable  pe¬ 
digree  and  a  family  legend  which  ascribes  the  origin  of 
the  family  to  some  miracle  in  a  by-gone  age,  and  finally 
the  ordinary  Nayar  family  of  the  other  day  professes  to 
belong  to  a  superior  order  of  men,  calls  itself  by  a  curi¬ 
ous  new-fangled  name,  and  if  its  wealth  and  influence 
continues  for  a  time,  is  joined  by  others  similarly  cir¬ 
cumstanced.  The  non-cohesive  character  of  the  Nuyars 
as  a  class  is  nowhere  so  well-exemplified  as  in  their 
socialise.  They  would  not  mess  in  public,  or  inter¬ 
marry  with  those  of  their  own  class  who  belong  to  a 
different  sub-division.  Nuyar  women  specially  take 
care  not  to  partake  of  food  cooked  by  members  of  her 
class  unless  they  belong  to  her  circle  which  is  becom¬ 
ing  narrower  and  narrower  every  day  by  the  process 
of  arrogation  above  described.  So  long  as  Nambutirls 
are  available  as  consorts,  a  Nsyar  woman  need  not  care 
to  find  a  partner  in  her  own  class.  Class  for  class, 
Nsyars  of  different  localities  will  not  associate  together. 
Thus  Nuyars  of  Travancore  or  Cochin  or  South  Mala¬ 
bar  will  not  be  permitted  to  mess  or  intermarry  with 
the  corresponding  class  of  Nuyars  of  North  Malabar  who 
always  pretend  to  be  of  higher  caste  than  the  others. 
Their  brethren  in  the  south  never  fail  to  return  the  com¬ 
pliment!  There  are  certain  conventional  limits  beyond 
which  Njjyar  women  are  not  allowed  to  go.  Those  of 
North  Malabar  are  prohibited  from  crossing  the  Perum- 
pula  river  towards  the  north  and  the  Korappula  river 
towards  the  south.  Those  of  South  Malabar  and  Cochin 
cannot  go  beyond  Quilon  in  Travancore  on  pain  of 


14  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

losing  caste.  Of  course  these  senseless  and  silly  res¬ 
trictions  are  wearing  away  in  the  light  of  western 
education  and  enlightenment,  though  in  the  north  it  is 
not  very  long  ago  educated  Nayar  gentlemen  have 
plucked  up  courage  to  break  through  the  shackles 
forged  by  custom  and  take  their  wives  with  them  be* 
yond  the  conventional  limits.  And  yet  it  would  not  be 
quite  accurate  to  say  that  education  has  always  acted 
as  a  mitigating  or  corrective  element  towards  the  uni¬ 
fication  of  sub-castes  among  Nayars.  For,  a  blind  and 
unmeaning  reverence  to  old  musty  customs  still  deter 
many,  even  among  the  educated,  from  giving  their 
adherence  to  what  is  known  as  Pfatiloma  marriage,  u  e.% 
marriage  of  a  woman  of  a  higher  sub-caste  with  a  man 
of  a  lower  one,  though  such  alliances,  if  they  do  take 
place,  do  not  necessarily  deprive  the  parties  of  their 
legal  rights  in  their  Tarawads.  Yet  there  are  those 
who  insist  on  the  woman  being  put  out  of  caste.  Another 
meaningless  observance  to  which  they  still  cling  ten¬ 
aciously  is  the  one  regarding  sitting  Tor  meals  in  the 
same  row  or  line — what  is  known  as  Panti  Bhojanam. 
Different  sections  of  the  Nayar  caste  sit  apart  for 
meals  on  ceremonial  occasions.  These  and  many  such 
senseless  customs  tend  to  keep  up  perennial  disunion  in 
the  caste. 

There  are  also  instances  of  members  of  the  lower 
sub-castes  rising  in  the  caste  scale  and  claiming  to 
rank  with  higher  sub-castes,  as  there  are  also  instances 
of  members  of  a  higher  sub-caste  being  degraded  and 
brought  below  the  rank  of  high  class  Nayars.  The  Chem- 
pukottis  (copper-smiths),  the  Odattu  Nayars(tilers),  the 
Etachery  Nayars  (cow-herd),  the  Vattakatan  foil-mon¬ 
ger)  are  instances  of  the  first  class.  These  were  evi¬ 
dently  classes  who  were  of  a  rank  inferior  to  the  Nayars 
but  who  have  apparently  been  raised  in  the  caste  scale 
as  a  matter  of  necessity  or  have  themselves  risen  by 
reason  of  their  office  or  profession  which  was  indispens¬ 
able  to  Brahmans  and  temples.  These  are  allowed  to 
enter  the  inner  precincts  of  temples,  the  Eiayatu  offici- 


Xntrod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  15 

ates  as  purohits  at  their  Sradha  ceremonies  and  they 
can  touch  the  other  Nayars  without  polluting  them. 

The  Chalian  or  the  weaver,  the  Velu$tetan  or  the 
washerman,  the  K§hourakan  or  the  barber  are  all 
instances  of  the  second  class,  viz.,  of  those  who  have 
lowered  themselves  from  the  ranks  of  Nayars  by 
taking  professions  supposed  to  be  degrading.  These 
impart  pollution  by  touch  to  other  Nayars,  are  not 
allowed  to  e-nter  temples  and  do  not  get  the  benefit  of 
the  spiritual  offices  of  the  Elayatu. 

There  are  also  instances  of  foreign  castes  trying  to 
get  into  the  fold  of  the  Nayar  class.  Among  others, 
the  Tarakan  or  Chetti  and  the  Mannatti,  an  altogether 
new  class,  may  be  named  as  prominent  instances. 

That  the  sub-castes  are  increasing  in  our  own  day 
is  evidenced  by  the  gradual  increase  in  their  numbers 
returned. by  the  successive  decennial  Census  Reports. 

To  classify  the  Malabar  castes  by  races  or  to  de¬ 
termine  the  race  to  which  each  caste  belongs  is  alto¬ 
gether  impossible, seeing  that  the  Nambutiris,  who  may 
be  taken  to  be  pure  Aryans,  have  been  for  generations 
together,  mingling  freely  in  connubial  relationship 
with  all  castes  below  them  down  to  the  Nayars. 
The  K§hatriyas,  the  Antaraias  and  the  Nayars  also 
have  been  doing  this  for  ages.  No  castes,  perhaps  with 
the  doubtful  exception  of  the  Nambutiris,  can  pretend 
to  have  preserved  the  purity  of  their  race 

The  Malabar  castes  now  may  be  said  to  fall  into 
the  following  broad  divisions,  viz. , 

(1)  The  Dwijas  or  the  twice-born  classes:  — 

(a)  Brahmans  — Nambutiris. 

(b)  The  K^hatriyas. 

(2)  Antaraias— with  their  sub-divisions 

(a)  Nampiti,  (b)  Arnpalavasi,  (c)  Samanta. 

(3)  The  Nayars:  — 

(a)  Nayars— proper  i.  e .  high  class  Nayars. 

(b)  Nayars— low  class- — whose  touch  pollutes 

sub-class  (a) 


16 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.*ao. 

(4)  Tiyyans,  KammSlars  or  artizans  and  other 
polluting  castes  who  are  not  aborginal. 

(5)  The  depressed  aborginal  classes  who  are  out¬ 
side  the  caste  system,  such  as  Parayars,  Cherumars, 
etc. 

The  above  classification  is  on  almost  the  same 
lines  as  those  adopted  by  Mr.  M.  Sankara  Menon  in  his 
Report  on  the  Census  of  the  Cochin  State  for  1901. — 
The  following  Tables  adapted  fiom  those  given  by 
Mr.  Sankara  Menon  give  us  some  idea  of  the  Malayali 
caste  system  according  to  social  precedence  as  deter¬ 
mined  by  circumstances  already  mentioned  . 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  highest  place  in  the  scale 
is  occupied  by  the  Malayali  Brahmans — Nambutiris. 
The  Malayaii  Kshatriyas,  who  follow  more  or  less  in 
the  footsteps  of  the  Namhiatiris  in  the  matter  of  reli¬ 
gious  observances,  bath,  ablutions,  &c.,  come  next. 
The  Antaraia-Jaties  or  intermediate  castes,  are  placed 
above  Nayars  (group  No  II).  The  Ampalavasis  are  in 
this  group.  The  Nayars  distinguished  as  high  caste  and 
low  caste  are  placed  in  group  No.  III.  The  remaining 
castes  are  arranged  according  to  the  degree  of  pollution 
by  touch  or  approach  which  marks  each  group.  In 
another  place  a  little  more  elaboration  will  be  made  on 
a  few  of  the  points  lighty  touched  above. 


Group  No.  Name  of  Caste  Race  No.  of 

Divisions 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


P 

& 

cS 

£ 


w 

}-< 

rt 


a  rn  u 


c 

< 


' - ' 

v  in 

3 

rt  *-Q 

a 

'  c$ 

f .  1 

0 

CO 

w 

w  9  1 

to 

cu 

ns 

.u 

g 

S-h 

T> 

rt 

a 

<D 

,xj 

C* 

to 

rt 

-1— > 

J3 

W 

0 

0 

0 


HH 


>  > 


Total  64 


18 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  so 


M-l  I 

°&f 

*2  g  3 

§2  * 

§  -.y 

o  ^ 
o  >  u 

■go  3 

T2  j>  <u 
25  m 
to  o  .S 
<D  is  u. 

CTj 

WTJ  c 
fl  fi  C 
o3  p 

£  c 

£  C/3 

«'g‘L 

w  Jtt  cu 
£  o  „ 

c»  co 
K  <U  rt 

<D  -*-» 

J3 


cS 

cO 

+-» 

(O 

,  <D 


bfl  m  ^  ui  fe 

a  *z\  o 

.p  ^  o  +2  *2 

>  r-P  rt  '  O 

*  ~  o  £•> 

r;  -m  1> 

u  £  n'r^i  U 
O  cJ  Jj  nJ  o 

W-l  *-* 

CD  ^  <n 
«n  o  r«  Q  - 

CJ^’i  C 

'SH  °^' 
u  -g  ‘> 

b/D  .  2  ^ 

^  CO  fp  co 
TJ  Cl  ^  M 

•t-  <d  TJ*  co 

M'S  "3 'S.^  2 

C  p£  £  rf  co 
rt  CO  ^  g  ^  cS 

SO  rt  C3 

0U£  — 


bJD 

nJ 

»  *»H 

^  • 

£  ° 
2  to 

£  T3 


o 


laS 

v-< 


O  co 


«  J2  S 


T!  q  fl 


O 

£ 


co  aS  <2  co  & 


£.2  <N 

rt  EL 


CO 

o 


o 

-*-> 

o3 


Cd  •  r-> 

S'  0) 

-  V-I  Wi 

to  -M*  4) 

o  2  xi 


Cl 


w  o  «5 

bfl^  ^ 

c  o 


£2  z  -S.H 

fi*  .2 

£  CO  c/5 

^  «* 


CO 


o3  j_ 


fl 

O 

£ 


nS  ^ 
<“*■  to 
CO  T3  <D 


bfl 

a 

o 

£ 

03 


rtP  J 

cLja  cj 


<2  £ 

w  w  P  £  a> 

<y*C  g  jp  £P 

■y  «  H  "P  W 

03  O-t  5  •  ■“* 

•  *■*  .  -f^ 

«  cs  w 
fcb 

o  oW 


o 

u 


Vi 

u 

03 

£ 


IP 


<M 


03 

a 


W 


CO 


Table  II — ( ccntd .) 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


19 


co 

G 

*-c 

rJ 

a 

<d 


£ 

o 


CD 

G 

h 


co  c 
3  rt 

.2  S 

bx)G 

*G  lo3 
<u  Vh 

»-*  PQ 


CO 

<D 


CD 

4-» 

o 

G 

CD 

13 

co 

CD 


jj  co 

•4— >  4_> 

O  CO 
<D  CD 

Ovr! 

<U  Gh 

^  n 

.3  5 

4-» 

co  <d 

i  s 


oc£? 
1  ”  rt  ^ 

ts-’s'g 

>  g  & 

O  c  ni  c/j 

^  CO  O 


co 

&. 


13 
,  G 
co  cd 


G 

O 

a 

<u 

S-H 


co 

G 

CD 


CO 


£  w  1)' « 

rh  §•  SC  ° 

Co  •  —I  ej 
,  X  5-i  f 

•  j3  *-•  .5 
S  rt 
S  g  g.2 

G  3  13 


& 

d 

G 


cd 

G 

<D 

CD 

i-, 

G 

<D 

G 

H 


C3 

a 

"J  rG 

rt  Lrrt 

O  *£ 

Sm 

o3 


!-i, _ _  o  HD" 

rt  d  >  g 

SS’aS  j 

*  >,  a  g  f 

O  O  <y 

6  & 

•  >— '  <D 
<D  »— i  _j±i 

b  G  ^ 

03  c3 


CD 

G 

•  »“H 

13 

>-( 

<D 


£  2 

d  <L> 

- 

CQ  co 

3  *— ■  4_>.  H 

co  o  a 

r/^  k.  A 


t:.H 

(D  G 

u  d 


CO 

CD 

f— H 

ttj 


^  G  , _ , 

CO  *G  Cd 
G  IcvJ  <D 


G 

G 

<D 


co  ira  cy  " 

a  13  o 


G 

o 

u 

G 

CD 

<D 

G 

CD 

> 

rcJ 

G 

CO 

rt 

>>> 

•co 

ctf 

> 


b/D 

o  . 

O  CD 
•2  o 
o  G 
O  <U 

CO  CO 

s-s 

rG  Vh 

j*  *5 

d  G 

Vr— i  ■*-* 

G  G 

M 

CO 


a. 

CO 


G  •  co  aj  >* 
O  Jg  o  ^  CD 
k5  G  o3  G 

g  a -3 -h 

.2  Go- 
g  cd  ^  £  S3 
12  Oh 

>-  ^  a 

bJDO  g  o 

-  ^  grG 


<D  G 

T3 

13  ^ 
CD  O 


co 

(D 

•— 4 

u 

cu 


o:  o 


CO 

d 

CD 

-<-» 

o3 

O 


g-<u5 

§  §H^; 

G  -4— >  **H 

,03  •  —>  Q 

13  .  O  ^ 

^  D  J5  3  CO 

•C  <3  s  m  rt 

5’H'C  rt  s 

G  3  CUG\G  • 

^  W  'g 

.  >_  o3 

>  hn  CD  -G  ^  ^ 
bfl  r3  CO- 


O 


G 

a 


CD 

JG 

H 


c3  O 


> 


>  3  -cJ 

rt  &  13  ^  (D 

G  G  G  -3  5-i 
rt  ^  O 

ixj  rr  03 

co  CO  G  c/j 

3  g  O  ^ 

a  a^- 

O  G  G  (D 

R  Id  Id  *3  cd 

rc  5-i  5-1  o3  (D 


G 

G 


O  M  ^ 


Table  II — (  c  out  Cl .) 


20 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L. 


co 

44 

1-1 

ci 

£ 

CD 

P4 


rO 


■*->  •  a) 

O  CO  CD  P 

c  a  o.-s 

-  £  w  ” 


CO  4_> 

■s  g 

rt  c 
CL. 


b0-o 

P  a 


d 


>  CO 
to  Q 

I-*  o 


> 

nJ 

43 


•  r- i  . 


CL,  > 

£*03 

C3 

£;  o 
^  43 
C  ~ 
co 

d  O 

-•1 
CO"  ^ 

g  £ 

£  ■*-» 
w  g 
a  2 


r*  <L>  ITU 


£ 

o 

co 


>  43 

K*  -4-» 

co 

43 

c  £ 

t— .  >^X5 

>  ■*  KTJ  (V) 

^  43 
CD 

iZ  ^o  £ 

|  as 

UTJ 

£  ° 

p  o 


P 

P 

O 

u 

o 

nJ 

P 

O 

13 

O 

13 

CTj 

*-, 


rt 

co 

<L» 

»— I 

CL, 

£ 

<u 


-»-»• 

nJ 

> 

oJ 

to 

d 

43 

CQ 


IP 

CO 

CD 

43 


p 

oJ 

£ 

o 

£ 


CO 

P 

O 


<D  43 
P 


O 


CD 

5-. 

O 


«  O 
5  P 


nS 

CD 

S-i 

o 


bO-e 

CD  O 

P 
P 


13 

CO 


> 


CD 

4-J 

rt 

£ 

CD 

44 

d 


£ 

£  £  <d 
£  43 
>>  rt  -*-• 

-c  H  £ 

M-,  P  5-, 


o 

£ 


CO 

bO 

P 


5-i 

<D 

*S 

O 

co 
oJ 

44 

>%.£ 
— i  5-, 

to  13 
<D 

►  •— «  r  (J 
5—i  /— » 

CL,  d 


P 

c3 

°  jp 
.  w 

>>  5—, 

p  % 

*-*  £3 

to  O 

‘  L-I 

o  H 


CO 

nj  13 
£ 


13 

<D 

4-» 

CL, 

O 

13 

c3 

CD 

5-, 

d 

o 

ccj 

£ 


d 

P 


rt  •  i— , 


CO 

O 

cm 

o 

z; 

CO 

nJ 

13 

CD 

*d 

a 

•  •  * 
b/3^ 

•  — •  03 

5-.  CD 
O 


CM 

o 

£ 


13 

(D 

13 

oJ 

CD 

5-, 

X! 


O  <D 
■*J  43 

s_<  H 
rt 


£ 

CO 

P 

*  pH 

bO- 

»  pH 

5_ 

o 


p 

o 

w* 

CO 

CO 

CD 

J— I 

O 

5-, 

CL 


5-, 

loj 

Jo 

•  1—4 

44 

44 

)d 

43 

u 


p 

ctf 

4-1 

o 

p 

5-1 

o 

-Q 


P 

CD 

"  5-, 
CM  r^-J 


-Q  13 

^  CD 


5_ 

CD 


CD  > 

S3  g 

P  u  ^ 


> 


}-i 

o 

w— . 
5-i 
CD 


03 

CD 

£ 

13 

CD 

CO 


o 

5 


CL  P 


-P 

u 

(D 

4-> 

If) 

v 


5-. 

o 

5-t 

<D 


13 

O 

•  w-M 

5  « 

CL  to 
rtr  ccj 

cj 

rP  „ 
4-»  CO 

•  PH 

b/>c 

p  ^ 

*n  o 

p  -p 

13  .£ 


O 

co 


■43 
-*-> 

13 
<D 
<D 

5->  CD 
CO  03 

o3  co 

°  D 
CO  r' 
•  —  .  . 

-P 

h  a 

CD 

co  L» 
w  o 
p 

co 

CD 

O 

H3 


^  >v 

43 
13  t3 

D  oj 

13  prt 

5-<  V-,  * 

b/)  oJD 

D 

13  -xJ 

.2  ( 

■^  to 

6  6 
22- 


CO 

CD 

CO 

CO 

d 

13 


20 


Table  II — ( con  id .) 


tntrod.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


to 


<D  >> 

^  JZ  rO 

CZ 

£  >>  <d 

•S-a  S 

5-1 

O 


T3 

<D 

U 

O 

ctf 

05 


03 

CD 

£ 

o 


u 

CD 

cu 

<D 


<d 


5-1 

a>  n 

o- 

05 

r  2  § 

<u  y 

>  (D  C 

^  £  G 

o  v*“l 
-*->  * 

O  Co  ^ 

G  ^ 

05  ^ 

o.a.% 

^  C  n 

ON  G  S-,  g 

O  2 

'M  CD  ±f  cj 

O  °°s 

•  >>  r? 

05  5-1  •  <-> 

o  o  ^  c 

4_,  G  G 
m  d  rt  ^ 

°  e  o 


-  -  «-G  j-i 
*■*  |<3  •  •“* 

G  £ 

P-4CQ-5 


03  D 

°  fi 


o 

aJ 


O 

C/5 


05 

CD 

O 

ccS 


c3 

tG 


g  a. 


u, 

<D 

c  •  -G 

•  •—«  V*  I  > 

CD  C  o 

-Q  o3 


05 

G 

O 


• 

05  O 

a 
G 


05 

<D 


SJ5* 


<D 

*G 


O 

<D  G 

'rt  G 
a 

05  -d 

•—3  G 
S3 

• »— <  -«— » 

U  05  C/5  05 
o  J-H  CTj  <D 

05  <d  *r 

E  S  «• 
S.2  O 

_  P  003 
G  j-i 

•— 1  *t3  G 
__  O  O 
03  05  C 

S  *  05  ? 

2  5  IS 

art  u 

g 

v !> 

-  o 

CD  05  ^ 
«-!  <D  5-1 
£  O  •- 

rt  o 
O  rG  «-G 

4->  Ph  -4-> 


.  05 

£>  <D 


oSd 

<D  v~— ' 

r-<  _C 

CD 

£  O^d  g< 

O  £  £  G 
>  O  o3  0 
03  .  o-> 

in  cc3  £>  ^ 

a  >— <  o 

05 

W  £ 

£  3 

0  GG 

G  05 

(D^J  O)  1/3 

*■  2  G  5-. 

rt  2  55 
G 


.  CD 
05  5— . 

>-<  G 
O  43 

G  0 
Or*  G 
•3  5-c 


u 

03 

•  rH 

.  r!  >-x  — 

o  CD  *£  W) 
x;.h  c 
CD  L_j  O-i  t<3 

-G  H  1/2  £ 

**  « 

CD  •  G  G 

S^d  cr 

G  «-G  (L> 

sS 

H  3  r.S 

-G  G  _cj 
^  O  ^ 
^-~n  ca  ^  *d 
O  ^  £ 

V^.  •  •— I 

G  o 

rt  ccJ  Cii 
JG  _, 
03-  ^  g 
MrQ  C3 
A  G3  U 


-4-»» 

O  5-i  •»— • 

*3  c3  kcj 

5^  *r*. 

^.*5*  io 

•W  > 

kcs 

rG  *r^  G 

.£‘  W  3“ 
P->Oc 

5-1 

krJ 

G  ^ 

cS  G**43. 

CO 

“On 

»-i  M 

<r^-N>w'  <***✓ 

O 

21 


Table  II — ( contd .) 


22 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


g  O  £ 
§  W  rt 
47  O!  C/5 

^  O  rQ. 
■M 

o  >>, 

03 


;  <U 

> 

O 

42 

cS 


Egg 
£  x  '3 

■£  WjD 
47 

> 


C/3 


C/3 

<U  172  • 

OS  _£ 
-»->  ’Xj 

2  G  o 

u  CJ 


05  O 


O 

42 

oS 

c/3 

<L> 


3 

<u  o 
H  *S 


73  J-i  C/3  — •  CJ  O 
OJ  O  05  'rt  >  42 
**  42  rt  -»-> 
«  £ _ U  47 

±i  q  <-0.77  .s 

.2  .42  £  47 

°  §°  £  e- 

S'2 

I?'2  >> 

•Tl  <L>  rj 

O  O  o 

t/3  >7  O  !2  ^ 

g  bJD  o 
-Q  .2  'o  _>»  > 

75  *>- 


O  a  . 
Cl  c/2 

73  ^ 

<D 


O 

bJO 


Tabic  II. — (con/d.) 


Introd.] 


CO 

Li 

d 

£ 

<v 

& 


CO 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


23 


*.3  IS 

S«  8 
|8°„ 

£  £*£  d  >*"* 
d  Jd  <0  d  O 
2  g  g  ^  05  ,c3 

Art  d  c 
d  P-H  4_,  05  05  L 
*43  05  bJD  05 

g^J  eS 

o  o  M"1 

tfl  2  W  M-l  >^  0) 

■aS"  o  "  .£ 

C  O  _.  4-> 

jj'  4)  O  f  », 

g^'S^oi 

--  s-> «  w  - 


I*  'TJ  4-»  p  05  0)  » 

JS  S  3  §  s.2  * 


A! 

d 


a  ^  J*  -  -S 
t3c;shs^ 
25  g  £  t«H  o  » 

3  a  Si  .  p  G 

»  .£?  S 

g  <D  W  L  ^ 
g  ^4  ^ 


05 


05  Id 

SH- 

g  s 

"m  rt 

3  -fi 

r~ « 

a 
a 


r_7  05 

t”1*^ 


g  o 

CL 


rt'g 
d  Id 

1-4 

u  CQ 


C/5 

05 

»  iH 

d 

o 

0 

05 


d 


d 


"c/5 

O 

£ 


G 


C/5 

d 


s 

o 

Li 


CO  .-. 

d 

C/5  £5 

03  *-i 


T3  O  •-<  ..L  j  j 

^  'M  .2  "O  L  .2 

05  _  Pd  '  Q**— ' 

4->  M  T3  _  05 

d  •  jrt  d 

• -i  C/5  C/3 

UO  O  C  -  -  .  , 

*jT  •—  ^  03  ~  >■>. 

o  ^  x3  <,  -m  d  ^ 

4-»  — J  03  03 

C/3  ,rH  «  >— I  -X  z; 

M  05  >  u  O  d 

-4-3  •  •  —  Li  rt 

.  r-j  c  *4-4  03  k 

c/3  ^  C/5  b  ^  r’  ^ 

o  -  d  cj 

£  P,.r^^ 


'  w 
vo  £ 

•  0 


05 

•  E  5^  Li  *!T  g  /  h  *>-.  L  05  d-d  05  5* 

8:0  3  ’S  8  o  fc. 


Cd 

a.  . 

P  C/5 


bO 

d 


d 


O 

Oh 


o 


C/5 

bo  <o  2 

to  d  >  rt 

05  d5  o  O  cj  W 

co  ho  d  o  -p 

^  01  t!  ri  °  ^ 

05  <-5  05  d 

c  05  (-!  w 

.d  JG  <!>  *±3  05 
05  -tJ  4^  03  -*-»  4_» 

•T3  (1)  rt  dn'-M 

u  2  a  05  o 

>  J2  V4- 

>  o  CO  CO 

^  d  05  W  g 

a  O  2  ci 

05  d  '  1  g  2 

b/D'-p  r-d  p 

03  O-I  CO  --  05 

I— <  i— <  W  . 

Lh  •*-!  (1) 

(J  ’Sk  »-  05  d  -d  05 


O 

d! 

X 


~  » '1 

o  o 


CL 

d 

o  • 

Li  ^ 


05 

J-4 

d 

co 

O 


CO 

Li 

d 

>> 

Id 

X 

T3 

d 

d 

co 

d 

Ih 


J5  O 

05  H3 
d 

CL  ^ 
CL  rt 
d  co 

(j 

J3  a 
d 

4-1 
OQ 


Li 

-GA  05 


05 


d 
d^  "d 

05 


JC 

05 


£ 

CO 

05 

4-> 

CO 

d 

o 


"d 

d 

Li 

bJD' 

d 

•  H 

-d 


05 

05 

XI 

4-> 

d 

05 

4-* 

O 

d 


,—t  *  d  d  d  L 
c  p  03  05 

O  5J  co^ 

i  Li  H  Li 
^  CO  ,  O 

§JU=  & 

.  — H  CQ  .  r—t  W 

l—  _ _ 1  L. 

Id  .  d 

•CO  d  *CO  Li 

Id  d  Id  Id 

—  L  li  .ifl 


H  (S)  co  d* 


rd  Ll  __ 
4-J  05  ^ 

•  — l  (-l  G 

« 


2  -) 
O  w 


d*’ io 


io'O 


o 

> 


> 


Table  II. — ( contd .) 


24 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L. 


C /) 

i~4 

eg 

£ 

<L> 

e* 


<0 


o 

eu 

<D 
o 

5  O 

*5  o 

C/3 


^  3 

,  <D 
bJD^ 
c  o 

*>  « 

S  o 

^  T3 

<u  ti 

-4-»  — • 

C/3 

eg 

O  fl 
.  O 

5-H  •  r-H 

<1>  ■*-> 


^  d  ^  ^  •  o 

p_,-  — <  eg  . — '  O  c 

dr _ .  _c  -*-»  w  c 

-p  ~  O0  r-j  o 

P  G  <-•  °  03  1/3 

O  £gM 

■w  on  ,S2  <u  *  c  . 


<D 


p  ; 


'J-'  ►-  .  J-l  K^>  O 

a  £  <«  w.  g 

^  w  -4_>.  b 

>%  eg  rt 


o  9-  bj* 

o  S'- 


•j-i 

p 

j* 


4-*  2  £”“•  Cg  £  dP 

8  MB  £^> 
^  <n  .  ?  rt  ’T3 
vO  .  -£  rt  ~ 
^^.P  $£*0  * 

G  -  P  ^  Oh  p 

j:,h  o  c* 

•H  «J  O  0j^ 

fe  CD  .  zZ  Oh 

j3  2  -  g 

Of)  HJ  o  rj 
eg  °  ^  rt  O  g  Irt 

2  2  «3  £  3.^ 

12  O  CD  jh. 
w  c  rt 

Oh^  od  o  ^_>  •— •  k> 

P  O  o  j-  A 

.5=!  P  ^  ^  O  ^ 

o  S  P  ^  •*  eg  3 

H<<2  jfg* 

.  •>  s*:« « 
S  >  §•  a  S  s 

S  g  «  <jx  « 

^  ShS 


bO  eg 


T3 

'P 
O 

H-»  ,- — v 
i-H 

p  u 

a  > 
>^  eg 

>>  Jg 

•  *-H  *Tj 

H- 

>H 

o 

p 

eg 

> 

P 

P 


TJ 

P 

eg 

C 

eg 


>- 

J§  3 

<53  a 


3  rt 

eg  o 

tOj  rQ 

> 


C4 


o  o  o 
T3  hj  -a 


£  c 
g  kg 

v>  K> 

p  p  M 
eg  ^  ^ 

g  3  Cg 


'T^  V4-I 

So; 

bO  £ 
0^0 
'-H  CU  s-< 
O  y  4m 

i  cS  * 

%  £  T3 

veg  O  p 

C  Oh  rt 

S  P  CD 
w  0-4  > 


’S^j 

eg  •  rH 

w> 


^H  7? 

<V  u 

S  C 

P  eg 

g  B 

o  o  D-s 

i-i  C/3 

u  (fl  ^ 

O  eg  c/3 

P  ^  eg 
^  w  O 


5  p  > 
2  eg  g 

P*'r— 1  O 

kg  |<L>-h 

Ph> 


/^V  /■  ^  /"  A'  ^  Z' — s 

co  ^t-  vr>*  oo  on 


20, 


Table  II — ( contd .) 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


(/) 

d 

h 

ci 

B 

<u 

P4 


ro 


s 

in 

ci 

o 

Uw 

o 

03 

B 

a 

£ 


a  ^ 

CO 

h  <u 
03  > 
bfl  O 

rj  Hi 

•  •— 1  be 

CO 


d 

ci 

> 

*3 

P-. 


d 

03 

cl, 

H 

03 

C/3 


O  C/3  rt 
03  <U 
C  4J  d 
ci  <£-d 

-H>  Ci 
c/3  O 

^  03  £ 

-h>  •— *  3 
03  ^  .. 

•sil 

|i-8 

.  a, 

^  p* 

P  C3 

d-i^  ►- 
<u  d  ^ 

<13  •  «  rd 

-*£  O 

o  c/3 

4->  ci 

03  £  _ , 

>  ci  d 

d  w  ~ 

rd  > 

03  dd 

id  ci 

H  B  h  . 

2  >  8 

^  C/3  d 

Cl,  ci 
d 


03 


o  CO  B  <13 
•Z5  03  g  d 

=  <S  pH 

d  -4->* 

O  V4-J 

•  03  . 

W^rnd  CO 

d  5  2 'd  03 

«  ^  <l3  drH 

O  cl.  d  03 

ci  *-L<  co  ™  <o 

CJ  03  C  ..  d 

c*  ci  03  d 

03  3  >,  G  £ 

°<5 

«  °l?o'  M 

«  rt1^  «  5 


vj  n3  vu  ^ 

•  ^  .r-i  O  O 

^  kid  ^  3 

(V)  TJ* Ct,  5 

£  rt.  O  rv 


—  0-1  Lr* 

d‘  °  £ 03 

d  pq  ci  03 

•-  H  £ 

O  0-4 

IU  <13  Li  . 

°  s 

t,  rt  JJ  p 

O  - 


03 

to 

ci 

u 


d 

-H>  d 

c  H 


ci 

03 


03 

03 


C/3 


~  2-ts 

Tt*0  in 
C/3 


o . 


d  03 


*  •  H 

co  o 
d  03  a, 

cid 

•  ci 

03  gd  CO 

P<;  03  % 

»-«  On  03  £ 

d  3 

v°  03  ^  ti 


* 


ci 

H 

d 


CO 
Hi 

03 
Hi 

d 
Hi  O 
bJOd 
rf1  ci 


d 

03 


d 

ci 

> 

ci 

Hi 

ci 

d 


d 

ci 

d 

d 

ci 

d* 

ci 

w 


ci 


d 

ci 

-4-J* 

Id 

V! 


Hi 

o 

d  c 

ci  £ 

d  •* 

d  a 
d  ^ 

C^C. 


35 


l 


Table  II — ( contd .) 


26 


LETTERS  FROM  MALAfcAR 


CO 

43 

9-1 

rt 

s 

CL> 


CO 


G 

to 

o3 

u 

M-l 

o 

G 

Cl 

a 

03 

X 

CL  • 

p  ° 
o  ^ 

Ll  M 

O 


c o  ' 

p 

’§ 

TJ* 

G* 

rt 

u 

o 

c o 

13 

g 

s-i 

03 

co 

•  r-H 

-*-»• 

W 

w 

X 

T) 

g 

rt 

CO 

G 

05 

-(->• 

#  W 

5 


C/3 

4-> 

CO 


p  1/3 
O  03 

g  W 

2  03 

Cu° 

CL*G 

<  S 


o3 

CO 
03 

"O 

G 

4-J 

aJ 
CL) 

Li 
4-» 

0) 

9-i 
03  * 

03 

43  G 


O  43'  <13 

^  gp-g 
rt  ^  £ 

G  j2  O  "g 

P^ 


CO 

03 

> 


Q,  CO 

s 


CO 
.  C 
CL  c$ 
P 
O 


a 

43 


PQ 


O  43 
CL  O 
n3 

>3? 

£  Pr* 
l_i  'CL +3 
r"1  os 


co 

oi 

o 


03 

43 


co 


co 
03  *4 
4->  co 
P  P 


•  ^ 

03  43 

> 

a 

03 

43 


*8 

03 

a 

o 

CO 


bJD 

G 

O 

g 

aS 

43 

C3 

03 

G 

9-< 


CO 

03 

'w 

T>* 

G* 

43 

o 

G 

9-i 

03 

CO 

G 

03 

P*'* 

oJ 

r— H 

o3 


>  *— i  o 


G  ^3 

O  ° 
H  CJ 

CL 


CL*  i—i 


03 

03 


03 

Li 

K>> 

42 


VO 


G 

> 

—  O 
co  o 

IP 


G 

9-h 

o 

'-+-1 

03 

9-1 

03 

43 


k3 

£ 


CO 


G 

G 

G 
d 
-*— > 
co 


"G 
G 
CL 

CL  co 
03  p 
03 


co 

G 


co 

P 

•  r—i 

'"O 

oi 

9-i 


G  T3 


co 

rt 

G 


co 

co 

G 


9-i 

o 

43 

G 

P 

O 


\d 

w 


co 

03 

Li 


G 

9-i 

03 


*£ 

G  ’’G 

Jq  Pi 


rt  CO 
G 


b/)  ccj 

c 

”a-.3  £ 

13  g£ 


co 

G 

42 


o3 


44  •  rH 

°  £ 
O  CL  ^ 

cl^'g 

p  +3  o 


45 

G  H 

43 

O 
G 
o3 


E 


G 

G 

O 


G 

45 

H 


00 

1-1 

G 

bfl 

03 

CL 

>v» 

2k 

Cl 

{"5 

3$ 

'C 
•  ** 
•§ 
0 


co 

4-» 

co 

G 

Li 

o 

M— I 

G 

43 


G 

G  •  >h  P3 

4J-  Ko  o3  o3 
k0  L^’—J  -d* 
N  kd 

£)  £  2  ^ 


H  CM  0O  rt 


X 


[L,  *<>. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  27 

The  Nambutiris. 

Introductory  Note — Part  II. 

In  this  part,  I  propose  to  notice  at  some  length 
some  of  the  important  castes  omitted  by  our  author. 
Having  sojourned  for  a  long  time  in  such  a  priest- 
ridden  country  as  Malabar,  where  all  classes  of  people 
who  have  any  pretention  to  be  Hindu  devote  themselves, 
body  and  soul,  to  contribute  to  the  welfare,  prosperity 
and  pleasure  of  the  twice-born  classes,  where  kings 
and  princes,  when  they  ascend  the  thrones  of  their 
ancestors,  solemnly  swear  to  protect  ‘‘the  Brahman  and 
his  Kine,”  it  is  surprising  that  our  author  has  given 
the  go-by  to  the  Brahmans,  as  a  class,  altogether.  While 
he  has  given  us  interesting  and  detailed  accounts  of  the 
Christians,  Jews  and  Mahomedans  and  has  also 
not  failed  to  notice  at  some  length  the  Nayars  and  the 
castes  below  them,  he  has  not  a  word  to  say  about  the 

Nambutiris  who  are  the  Brahmans  of  Malabar.  It 

•  * 

cannot  be  that  he  was  not  aware  of  the  existence  of 

Brahmans  in  the  country.  For  in  Letter  No.  22,  he 

gives  an  account  of  the  Patters  “dwelling  among  and 

beyond  the  mountain  range,”  whose  “  native  country 

is  the  district  round  Tuticorin,  Coromandal,  Madura, 

Kottar,  and  the  neighbourhood,”  and  4‘  who  take  no 

share  in  the  administration  of  Government  in  Malabar, 

being  regarded  as  foreigners,  although  they  sometimes 

spend  3  or  4  years  on  this  coast.”  Speaking  of  this 

class  of  people,  he  also  informs  us  that  “these  hold 

themselves  higher  than  the  Malabar  Brahmans,  the 

Nambutiris,  who,  they  say,  sprang  from  fishermen 

elevated  to  the  Brahmanical  dignity  by  Parasu  Raman.’® 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  our  author  knew  of  the  existence 

of  a  separate  class  of  Brahmans  in  Malabar  ;  but  the 

apparent  distinction  he  seems  to  draw  between  the 

Malabar  Brahmans  and  Nambutiris  leads  us  to  think 

•  • 

that  he  had  but  a  hazy  idea  about  them,  and  that, 
rather  than  venture  to  descant  upon  a  subject  of 
which  he  was  evidently  ignorant,  he  thought  it  wise 
to  let  it  alone.  And  this  is  most  likely,  for  the  Nam- 


28  LETTERS  PROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

bu{iri  Brahmans  are  a  peculiarly  exclusive  class,  and 
it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  obtain  information  which  is 
accurate  and  trustworthy  respecting  them,  especially 
for  one  so  placed  as  our  author,  a  Christian  priest. 
Unlike  their  brethren  of  the  East  Coast  who  are  always 
pushing  forward  in  the  battle  of  life,  the  Nambufiri 
Brahmans  cf  Malabar  immure  themselves  within  the 
sacred  limits  cf  their  households  “far  from  the  mad¬ 
ding  crowd’s  ignoble  strife,  ”  attending  solely  to  their 
interminable  ceremonies  and  ablutions.  Untouched  by 
the  advance  cf  western  education  and  civilization,  these 
represent  today  the  type  of  their  ancestors,  who,  cen¬ 
turies  upon  centuries  ago,  had  left  the  table-lands  of 
central  Asia  and  had  come  all  the  way  down  to  Mala¬ 
bar- in  search  of  a  new  abode; 

A  ante. — The  Brahmans  of  Malabar  are  known 
as  Nambutirls,  Emprans  or  Emprantirls  and  PotTls. 
Those  of  the  32  Gramams  (villages)  that  lie  to  the 
north  of  the  Perumpula  river  are  called  Emprans, 
a  term  said  to  be  made  up  of  the  words  En+piiran<> 
meaning  “my  lord.'5  T'he  Brahmans  of  the  re¬ 
maining  Gramams  lying  between  Perinchellur  and 
Katamurl',  and  those  wrho  have  immigrated  from  the 
north  and  live  in  the  Gramams  up  to  Ampalappula 
and  Harippad,  are  designated  Nambutirls.  The 
term  “Nampuri  or  Nambutiri”  has  been  variously 
derived.  Some  of  these  derivations  are  sufficiently 
grotesque  and  need  not  therefore  be  referred  to 
here.  One  derivation,  perhaps  the  least  objectionable, 
is  said  to  be  from  Nambu  and  tiri .  Nampu  is 
taken  to  mean  either  ‘sacred’  or  ‘trusted’  {Tamil) 
and  tiri,  an  honorific  suffix  among  Malabar  Brahmans 
and  other  castes  above  the  Nayars,  as  in  Akkittiri, 
Nambyattiri  and  Unittiri.  It  is  also  used  as  an  honori¬ 
fic  suffix  for  Rajas,  as  in  Kufinala  Konatiri,  i.  c.  the 
Zamorin,  Vailuva  Konatiri,  the  Raja  of  Waiiuvanad, 
&c.  The  late  Pachu  Muttatu,  a  well-known  Sanskrit 

9  0  0 

and  Malayaiam  scholar  and  author,  derives  it  from 
Na ,  the  first  part  of  the  word,  meaning  Veda,  the 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  29 

whole  term  implying  those  who  devote  themselves 
to  the  study  of  the  Vedas. 

Origin . — It  is  accepted  on  all  hands  that  the 
Nambufirls  do  not  form  part  of  the  indigenous  in¬ 
habitants  of  Malabar.  If  so,  whence  did  they  come  ? 
What  is  their  origin  ?  These  are  questions  that  are 
not  easily  answered.  Tradition,  as  recorded  in 
native  annals,  such  as  the  Keraia  Mshatmyam  and  the 
Keraiotpatti,  ascribes  the  peopling  of  Malabar  with  the 
Nambutiri  Brahmans  to  Parasu  Rama,  who  is  said  to 
have  brought  colony  after  colony  from  the  banks  of  the 
Narbuda,  the  Krishna,  the  Cavery  and  other  rivers. 
The  theory  of  Mr.  Nagam  Ayya,  that  “the  bulk  of 
them  came,  of  course,  from  the  region  between  the 
Krishna  and  the  Godavari  rivers,  ”  seems  more  or  less 
correct.  Mr.  Nagam  Ayya  refers  to  “  many  points  of 
similarity,  large  and  small;between  the  Nambutiris  and 
their  prototype  residents  of  the  Telugu  country  from 
which  they  are  said  to  have  come,”  the  cumulative 
effect  of  which  is  certainly  to  favour  the  probability  of 
this  theory  being  correct,  the  more  so  that  native 
tradition  also  points  in  that  direction.  Dr.  Subra- 
mania  Ayyar  tells  us  that  he  has  come  across  Nam- 
bujirls  who  have  referred  to  traditions  in  their  fami¬ 
lies  regarding  villages  on  the  East  Coast  whence' their 
ancestors  originally  came,  and  the  sub-divisions  of  the 
Smart{5  caste  Vatama,  Brhatcharajiam,  Ashtasahasram, 
Samketi,  &c.,  to  which  they  belonged.  According  to 
him,  even  to  this  day,  an  East  Coast  Brahman  of  the 
VatadeSatfu  Vatama  caste  has  to  pour  water  into  the 
hands  of  a  Nambutiri  Sanyasi  as  part  of  the  latter’s 
breakfast  ritual.  The  low  origin  attributed  to  them 
by  Sir  W.  W.  Hunter  and  others  is  based  on  the 
authority  of  some  Cacarese  or  Maharatta  tradition  to 
which  reference  is  made  by  our  author  also,  which,  in 
fact,  has  no  foundation  whatever  in  history  and  is 
resented  by  the  Nambutiris  as  outrageous.  This 
theory  makes  them  Brahmanical  fishermen.  In  sup¬ 
port  of  it,  Sir  William  Hunter  draws  our  attention  to 


so 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 

their  post-nubile  marriage,  the  prohibition  of  the  sacra¬ 
ment  of  marriage  among  all  but  the  eldest  son  in  a 
household,  and  to  the  observance  of  the  ceremony  of 
fishing  as  part  of  the  marriage  ritual  among  the  Yajur 
Vedic  branch  of  the  caste  as  the  relic  and  record  of  a 

9 

pre-Brahmanic  age.  No  doubt  the  rigid  insistence  of 
child  marriage  under  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  caste  as 
in  other  parts  is  wholly  unknown  among  the  NambU- 
prls  of  Malabar.  But  this  is  only  in  accordance  with 
ancient  Hindu  Law,  while  the  practice  of  the  Brahmans 
on  the  East  Coast  is  a  later  innovation  forced  upon  them 
by  the  necessities  of  the  times.  Mr.  Dutt,  speaking 
of  the  manners  and  laws  of  the  Buddhist  age  (B.  C. 
320  to  400  A.  D.)  says:  “while  Manu  approves  of 
the  marriage  of  girls  at  an  early  age,  it  is  quite 
manifest,  from  all  we  kn^w  of  the  times,  that  Hindu 
maidens  generally  married  in  early  maidenhood.  It 
would  seem  that  the  frequent  invasion  of  foreigners  in 
this  age  and  the  general  insecurity  of  the  times  fostered 
the  baneful  custom  of  child-marriage,  and  the  custom 
became  a  religious  duty  after  the  Hindus  had  lost  their 
independence.’’  The  statement  that  holy  matrimony 
is  prohibited  to  all  but  the  eldest  son  of  the  household 
is  altogether  incorrect.  There  is  no  such  prohibition, 
but  the  desire  to  conserve  the  joint  estate  and  not  to 
dissipate  it  among  the  many  members  of  the  family 
has  induced  the  Nambutirls  not  simply  to  prohibit 
partition  but  also  to  ordain  that  only  the  eldest  son  of 
a  householder  need  marry.  There  are  Nambutiri  Illoms 
(houses)  in  Malabar  all  male  members  of  which  do 
enter  into  holy  matrimony.  As  to  the  observance  of 
certain  ceremonies  by  a  particular  section  of  them,  it 
is  idle  to  argue  from  it  that  it  gives  us  a  clue  to  the 
origin  of  the  class  itself.  Any  casual  reader  of  Mr. 
Edgar  Thurston’s  chapter  on  marriage  customs  in 
South  India  in  his  Ethnographic  Notes  will  be  con¬ 
vinced  that  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  trace  the  origin 
of  many  of  the  curious  customs  and  observances  men¬ 
tioned  by  him  so  as  to  connect  them  with  the  genesis 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


31 


of  the  classes  that  observe  such  customs.  At  any  rate, 
the  peculiar  observances  of  the  Nambutirls  only 
show  that  they  had  separated  themselves  from  the 
parent  stock  long  before  the  development  of  SSstraic 
customs  now  obtaining  among  their  brethren  on  the 
East  Coast. 

Notwithstanding  the  theory  that  the  Nambutirls 
and  Njjyars  formed  parts  of  a  homogeneous  Turanian 
race,  the  researches  of  Mr.  Fawcett  go  to  show  that, 
as  far  as  anthropometry  can  be  relied  on  to  indicate 
racial  origin,  the  Nambutirls  “are  the  truest  Aryans 
of  Southern  India.”1  But  this  statement  cannot  be  said 
to  have  disproved  the  theory,  for  the  period  of  their 
arrivals  in  and  colonisation  of  Malabar  it  is  difficult  to 
determine  for  certain,  and  the  enquiry  already  made 
into  the  question  makes  any  further  discussion  un¬ 
necessary. 

Their  location . — The  whole  country  of  Kerala  was 
divided  into  64  Gramams  or  villages  and  the  Brahmans 
who  came  from  the  north  were  settled  in  these. 


The  names  of  these  64  GrSmams  are:-— 


I. 

Gokafriam 

17- 

Velkr 

2. 

Gomakutam 

» 

18. 

Ventotu 

9  • 

3- 

Ksravalli 

19. 

Vencatam 

• 

4* 

Mallur 

20. 

Chengote 

5- 

Eppanur 

21. 

Kotlsvaram 

6. 

Cheppanur 

22. 

Manchlsvaram 

7- 

Katalur 

23- 

Utuppu 

8. 

Kalanur 

24. 

SankaranSrjyanam 

9- 

Kariachira 

25- 

Kottam 

10. 

Paiachira 

26. 

Sivalii 

11. 

T  rkkani 
• 

27. 

Mora 

12. 

Trkkata 

•  • 

28. 

Pancha 

13- 

Trkkampsla 

29. 

Vitftfal 

14. 

Trchola 

• 

30. 

Kumsra  Mangalam 

15- 

Kellur 

3i- 

Anantapuram 

16. 

Gomayam 

32. 

Karnapuram 

1. 

Madras  Museum  Bulletin ,  Vol,  3,  No.  i,  p.  33. 

32 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 

These  32  Grsmams  belong  to  the  Tuiu  division. 
The  32  Gramams  of  the  Malayslam  division  ares  — 


I. 

Pyyannur 

17- 

Uliyannlir 

2. 

Perinchellur 

18. 

Kaluttanadu 

. .  * 

3- 

Karlkkatu 

19. 

Katappur 

4- 

Isanamangalam 

20. 

Iiibhyam 

5- 

Alattur 

•  t 

21. 

Sivapuram 

6. 

Xarintoiam 

• 

22. 

Avittattur 

•  •  •  f 

7- 

Trsivaperur 

23- 

Vennanadu 

8. 

PaAnyur 

24. 

Katumuri 

• 

9- 

Sukapuram 

25- 

Kitangur 

10. 

Perumanam 

26. 

Kumaranellur 

II. 

Parappur 

27. 

Kaviur 

12. 

Aiyrariikkulam 

28. 

Et^umanur 

13- 

Mushikakuiam 

29. 

Anmani 

M- 

Iringalakoda 

30. 

Anmalam 

J5‘ 

Atappur 

3i- 

Tiruvella 

• 

16. 

Chengavotu 

32. 

Chengannur 

Caste  Subm divisions'. — The  Nambutirls  may  be  divid¬ 
ed  into  the  vedic  and  non-vedic>  u  <?•»  those  who  are 
entitled  to  study  the  Vedas,  Ottuilavar,  and  those  who 
have  been  deprived  of  that  right  for  some  reason  or 
other — Ottillattavar.  The  first  of  these  may  again  be 
divided  into  Adhyans  and  Asyans  or  Hasyans .  But  as 
the  non-vedic  section  also  arrogates  to  itself  this  dis¬ 
tinction,  it  does  not  sufficiently  define  the  position  of 
the  vedic  class  in  society.  The  Adhyans  of  both  sec¬ 
tions,  the  vedic  and  non-vedic,  possess  the  honorific 
title  of  Nambutiripad.  The  suffix  ‘pad’  means  ‘one  in 
authority.’  The  Nambutiripads  of  the  non-vedic  section 
have,  however,  the  further  appellation  of  Gramini  Adhy¬ 
ans.  Just  as  the  suffix  ‘tiri’  is  added  to  the  names  of  both 
spiritual  and  secular  magnates  to  denote  their  exalted 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


Introd.] 


33 


position,  the  suffix  of  “  pad  ”  is  also  used  for  the  same 
purpose  of  denoting  exaltation. 

The  Cochin  Census  Report  notices  certain  special 
privileges  in  regard  to  the  performance  of  religious 
rites  and  other  matters  of  a  purely  social  nature  which 
serve  as  the  best  basis  for  a  sub-division  of  the  Nam- 
bujins  in  the  order  of  social  precedence  as  recognised 
amongst  themselves.  For  this  purpose,  the  privileges 
may  be  grouped  under  two  main  classes  A  and  B  as 
given  in  the  following  statement  taken  from  the 
Report. 


A 


B 


1.  Etu  (the  leaf  of  a 
cadjan  Grandha  or  book), 
the  right  of  studying  and 
teaching  vedas  and  sas- 
$ras. 

2.  Piccha  (mendicancy 
of  family  priests),  the  right 
of  officiating  as  family 
priests^ 

3.  Ottu  (Vedas),  the 
right  of  studying  the  vedas. 


4.  Atukkaia  (kitchen), 
the  right  of  cooking  for  all 
classes  of  Brahmans. 

5.  Katavu  {^bathing 
place  or  ghat),  the  right  of 
bathing  in  the  same  bathing 
place  with  other  Brahmans, 
or  the  right  of  touching 
after  bath  without  thereby 
disqualifying  the  person 
touched  for  performing  re¬ 
ligious  services. 


1.  Atu  (sheep),  the 
right  of  performing  holy 
sacrifices. 


2.  Bhiksha  (  receiving 
alms),  the  right  of  be¬ 
coming  a  Sanyasi. 

3.  Santi  (officiating  as 
temple  priests),  the  right 
of  performing  priestly  func¬ 
tions  in  temples. 

4*  Ararigu  (stage),  the 
right  of  taking  part  in  the 
performance  of  sastrangam. 

5.  Panti  (row  of  eaters), 
the  right  of  messing  in  the 
same  row  with  other  Brah¬ 
mans. 


Those  who  enjoy  the  privilege  of  No.  1  in  A  are 
entitled  to  all  the  privileges  in  A  and  B  ;  those  enjoy¬ 
ing  No.  2  in  A  have  all  the  privileges  from  2  downward 
in  A ;  and  those  having  No.  3  in  A  have  similarly  all 

E. 


34 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20 

the  privileges  from  No.  3  downwards  in  A  and  B,  and 
so  on.  Those  entitled  to  No.  1  in  B  have  all  the  privi¬ 
leges  except  No.  1  in  A.  Similarly  those  entitled  to 
No.  2  in  B  have  all  the  privileges  from  No.  2  down¬ 
wards  in  B,  but  only  from  No.  3  downwards  in  A,  and 
50  on.  With  the  above  formula  as  basis,  the  various 
classes  of  Nambutiris  may  be  distinguished  as 
follows :  —  Alvancheri  Tampurakals  ,  Ash{a~ 
grahattil  Adhyans  (Adyans  of  eight  houses),  Agili- 
hotris,  Bhattatiris,  Otikkans,  Vaddhyans,  Vydl- 
kans,  Smarttans,  Tantris,  Sastrangakars.  Vaidyans 
or  physicians,  Gramanis  and  Uril  Parisha  Mussads. 

According  to  the  J atinirmiaya,  as  we  have  seen, 
there  are  8  subdivisions  among  the  Nambutiris. 
They  are  : — 

1.  Tampurakkal. 

2.  Adhyan. 

3.  Visishta  Brahman. 

4.  Samanya  Brahman. 

5.  Jati  Matreyan. 

6.  Samketikan. 

> 

7.  Sapagrasttan. 

8.  Papisthan. 

Taking  them  in  order  :  — 

1.  Tampurakkal. — The  term  is  said  to  be  a  cor¬ 
rupt  form  of  the  Sanskrit  word  Samrat  denoting 
spiritual  sovereignity.  Of  this  class,  there  is  only  one 
family  existing  at  present,  that  of  Alvancheri  in  South 
Malabar.  There  was  another  family  known  as  Kal- 
pancheri  in  the  same  locality,  now  extinct.  As  spiritual 
sovereigns,  they  enjoy  certain  peculiar  privileges,  viz.* 

(1)  Bhadrasanam. — the  chief  seat  in  an  assembly. 

(2)  Brahma-Samrajyam. — Brahmamcal  sovereig¬ 
nity. 

(3)  Brahma-Valcha. —authority  in  Veclic  lore 
and  holiness  resulting  from  the  study  and  recital  of 
Vedas. 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


35 


(4)  Ssrvam5nyam. — universal  acknowledgment 

of  reverence. 

The  Tampurskal,  as  he  is  generally  designated 
is  considered  higher  than  all  other  Brahmans,  and 
possesses  unquestioned  supreme  spiritual  authority 
over  all  Nambuprls.  He  is  regarded  with  great 
reverence,  and  the  Malabar  Rajas  perform  Sa§htanga 
ftamaskaram  (prostration)  before  him.  He  is  the  last 
resort  of  appeal  in  caste  matters.  With  regard  to  the 
sanctity  of  the  Tampurakkal  and  the  origin  of  the 
designation  itself,  Mr.  Nagam  Aiya  mentions  an  inci¬ 
dent  which  is  interesting.  “  According  to  popular 
tradition,  "says  he,  “Aluvancheri  Nambutiri  on  his  way 
home  from  the  Hiranyagarbham  ceremony,  with  a 
gold-cow  from  the  ruling  sovereign  of  Kerala  was 
accosted  by  a  Pulaya  (Pafaya?)  thus: — ‘  We  are  the 
rightful  claimants  to  dead  cows,  not  Brahman  digni¬ 
taries.  If  this  cow  should  be  yours,  you  had  better  walk 
it  home’.  On  this  affront  being  offered,  the  Nambutiri 
by  his  great  mantric  power  sprinkled  water  upon  the 
golden  cow  and  gave  it  life.  The  wondering  Pulaya, 
exclaimed  ‘you  are  indeed  a  Tampurakkal’,  and  it  is  be¬ 
lieved  that  this  title  of  Tampurakkal  (Sanskrit,  Samrat 
meaning  sovereign,  having  reference  to  their  temporal 
as  well  as  spiritual  sovereignity)  belongs  to  them  from 
that  time.”1 

The  Tampurakkals  form  an  endogamous  commu¬ 
nity  with  the  Adhyans. 

2.  Adhyans. — There  are  8  families  of  this  class 
which  are  known  together  as  Ashtagrahathil  Adhyans 
or  Aryans  of  the  eight  houses. 

x.  Travancore  Statt  Manual,  Vol.  II,  p.  249. 


36  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  ao« 


The  names  of  the  Ashtagraham  with  their  chief 
representatives  of  the  present  day  are: — 


Names  of  houses . 

1.  Ksiamkantam 

♦  • 

2.  Melattol 

3.  Msjpr 

4-  Kulukkallur 

5.  Chemmangirt 

6.  Palu  r 

7.  Murinpottil 

#  O  ft 

8.  Veliangallur 


73 

Oh 
•  •— < 
i-# 

13 

O. 

& 

ol 


Present  representatives . 

1 .  Otappamana 

2.  Varikkaseri 

3.  Ottur 

1.  Kutallur  r 

1.  Puvuiii 

1 .  M  appad 

2.  Oraiasseri 
1.  Chemmangat  1 

Bhattatiri 

1.  Palur  Pafutoi 

2.  Panappalur 

1.  Ekadasi  Te- 

kketam 

2.  do  Yata- 

kketam 

1.  AkkarakkuriSsi 

2.  Mecheri . 

3.  Valappiily 


-a 

#g« 

P 

Ph 


03 

£ 


It  is  related  in  the  10th  chapter  of  the  Kerala 
Mahatmyam  that  Parasu  Rama  brought  from  the  banks 
of  the  Krishna  a  Brahman  of  great  sanctity  learned 
in  Vedic  lore,  one  who  was  a  proficient  in  the  practice 
of  yoga  and  poor  withal,  his  wife  and  their  8  children, 
vi  ho  were  all  no  less  learned  than  their  venerable 
parent,  and  settled  them  in  his  country  of  Keraia.  The 
father  was  installed  as  Yogiatiripad  orYogiar  or  precep¬ 
tor  of  all  Nambutiri  Brahmans,  and  was  authorised  to 
•  * 

pronounce  final  judgment  on  the  religious  questions 
referred  to  him.  A  house  was  built  for  him  at 
Trichur  on  the  side  of  the  western  (chira)  reservoir 
or  tank.  He  was  given  great  wealth  and  was  loaded 
with  honours  and  privileges,  some  of  which  are  : — 
the  right  of  (i)  going  about  in  a  palanquin,  (2) 
being  attended  by  guards  armed  with  swords  and 
shields,  (3)  having  a  conch  blown  when  mov¬ 
ing  about,  and  (4)  having  disciples.  On  the  death 
of  a  Yogistiri,  his  successor  used  to  be  consecrated 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  31 

with  great  ceremony  by  the  Brahmans  under  the  orders 
of  the  Raja  of  Cochin.  The  ceremony  was  used  to  be 
attended  by  the  Rajas  and  chiefs  of  Malabar.  The 
office  ceased  on  the  expulsion  of  the  last  Yogiatiri, 
Patayakkara  Nambutiripad,  whose  installation  into  office 
by  the  Zamorin  was  unauthorised,  when,  under  orders 
of  the  Raja  of  Cochin,  he  was  deprived  of  his  dignity 
and  formally  expelled  from  Trichur,  and  no  one  was 
consecrated  to  succeed  him. 

To  each  of  the  8  sons  a  separate  house,  endowed 
with  great  wealth,  was  given.  They  were  also  honoured 
with  privileges.  The  beauty  of  this  tradition  is,  however, 
mafred  by  the  fact  that  these  houses  belong  to  separate 
gotras,  and  do  not  constitute  exogamous  sections. 

‘  The  fund  of  accumulated  spirituality  inherited  from 
remote  ancestors  is  considered  to  be  so  large  that 
sacrifices  (yagas)  as  well  as  vanaprasta  and  sanyasa 
(the  two  last  stages  of  a  Brahman’s  life)  are  reckoned 
as  being  superogatory  for  even  the  last  in  descent.,” 
To  them  was  ordained  an  austere  religious  life,  one  of 
continued  penance  and  self-mortification.  Early  bath, 
repetition  of  prayers  a  thousand  times,  obser¬ 
vance  of  strict  fasts,  the  reading  of  the  Vedas,  famili¬ 
arity  with  Sastras,  but  not  discussing  them  in  a  con¬ 
tentious  spirit — these  form  the  daily  routine  life  of  one 
of  this  class.  The  eldest  son  should  enter  holy  wed¬ 
lock  in  the  presence  of  agni,  (fire)  and  procreate 
children  for  the  uninterrupted  maintenance  of  a  right¬ 
eous  lineage.  The  others  should  not  have  even  the 
thought  of  carnal  pleasures.  They  should  not  in¬ 
dulge  in  the  six  sins  (kamam)  lust,  (krodham)  anger* 
(lobham)  covetousness,  (moham)  infatuation,  (madam) 
pride,  and  (matsaram)  contentious  spirit.  They 
should  avoid  parannam,  literally,  ‘  food  belonging 
to  others’,  sradha  bakshanam,  ‘the  taking  of  food  at 
Sradha  (funeral)  ceremonies’,  and  pratigraham — receiv¬ 
ing  presents-.  By  the  due  observance  of  the  above 
ordinances,  they  are  enjoined  to  confer  merit  on  the 
land  they  live  in,  and  induce  the  rest  to  follow  the  right 


33  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L,  20* 

path.  The  Adhyans  have  indeed  receded  a  good  deal 
from  the  path  chalked  out  for  them  by  the  ancient 
sages.  They  are,  however,  still  strict  in  the  obser¬ 
vance  of  Religious  services,  and  engage  themselves 
much  in  the  reverent  study  of  the  Vedas. 

3.  Vi§ishta  BrShmana. — There  are  two  sub-divi¬ 
sions  of  this  class,  viz*  : — 

(1)  Agnihotris  To  them  are  prescribed 

(2)  Bhattatirls  |(i)  Agnihotram  —  sacrifice, 

(2)  Bhattavrtti— teaching  of  philosophy,  (3)  SanySsam — 
asceticism,  arid  (4)  having  sacrifices,  (ySgam)  per¬ 
formed  by  other  Brahmans. 

(1)  The  Agnihotris  are  those  whck  have  performed 
yagas  or  sacrifices  and  are  of  three  kinds:  — 

(1)  Those  who  have  performed  the  ceremony 
called  Agnichayanam  are  known  as  Agnichit  corrupted 
into  Akkiter  or  Akkittiri. 

•  9  9 

(2)  Those  who  have  performed  the  ceremony  of 
Aghi  Adhsnam  are  known  as  Ahitagni  corrupted  into 
Atipri. 

(3)  Those  who  have  performed  the  Soma  sacrifice 
are  known  as  Somayaji  corrupted  into  Chomatiri. 

o 

To  these  sub-divisions,  known  as  a  whole  by  the 
term  Agnihotri,  are  assigned  the  following  functions, 
viz* : — The  study  of  the  Vedas,  the  teaching  of  the 
same,  the  performance  of  ho  mam  or  oblation  to  Agni 
or  fire  for  one’s  own  benefit  as  welt  as  for  the  benefit 
of  others;  hospitality  to  guests  (Apthi  Puja),  the  offering 
of  libations  of  various  kinds,  Vividha  Tarpa^amgal, 
sacrifices  for  the  propitiatiop  of  the  gods  and  the  spirits 
of  ancestors,  and  the  performance  of  yagams  (sacrifices) 
already  named,  such  as  Adhanam,  Agni,  Soma  yagam, 
etc.  Only  those  who  have  entered  into  holy  wedlock 
are  qualified  to  perform  these  sacrifices.  It  is  also 
interesting  to  note  that  a  Nayar  is  an  indispensable 
factor  in  these  sacrifices. 

The  performance  of  ceremonies  by  the  Naipbuprls 
is  designed  to  benefit  not  only  themselves  but  also  all 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  39 

those  who  inhabit  Malabar.  It  is  the  vicarious  perfor¬ 
mance  of  these  ceremonies  enjoined  on  them  by  Parasu 
Rama  that  relieves  the  people  of  Kerala  of  “  the  ills 
that  man  is  heir  to.’’  The  Keraiotpatti  says : — 

“  Thus  in  the  land  created  by  Sri  Parasu  Rama 
the  Brahmans  should  all  bathe  at  dawn  of  day,  and  live 
virtuously, performing  religious  duties,  worship  and  make 
offerings  of  rice  to  the  elements  at  the  Kshetrams  or 
holy  places  and  Kavus  (or  lesser  temples),  and  in  order 
that  the  sorrow  and  the  sickness  which  are  incidental 
to  mankind  might  be  removed  from  the  people,  they 
were  to  cause  to  be  performed  Tswara  Sevakal  (or  wor¬ 
ship  of  God)  by 

Homan — offering  oblations  to  Gods  by  throwing 
ghee,  etc.,  into  consecrated  fire; 

Dhyanam — meditation  on  the  deity  ; 

Bhagavati  Seva — worship  of  the  goddess  Bhaga- 
vati ; 

9  9 

Pushpannali — worship  with  flowers  ; 

Anti  Namaskaram — prostration  in  the  evening  ; 

Trkala  Puja — worship  at  dawn,  noon  and  sunset; 

Ganapati  Homam-— fire  sacrifice  to  Ganapati; 

Mrtyum-Jayam — prayer  or  invocation  in  the  name 
of  Mrtyu  (or  god  of  death)  to  avert  accidents; 

Munfiu  Laksha  Sahasranamam — the  ceremony  of 
repeating  of  the  i,ooo  names  of  Tswara  three 
lakhs  of  times  ; 

Brahmana  Sahasra  Bhojanam — distribution  of  vic¬ 
tuals  daily  to  a  thousand  Brahmans  ;  and 

Maha  Mrtyum-Jayam — prayer  to  Mrtyu”.1 

(2)  Bhattatiris — These  are  the  repositories  of 
Sastriac  and  legal  lore.  They  have  all  the  rights  and 
duties  of  Agnihotrls,  except  the  performing  of  yagams 
or  sacrifices.  After  the  study  of  the  Veqgs,  the  Bhatta¬ 
tiris  are  enjoined  to  learn  Tarka  (logic),  Vedanja  (reli¬ 
gious  philosophy  or  theology),  Vyakara^a  (grammar) 
and  Mimaipsa  (ritualism).  The  last  is  divided  into 

1.  Wilson’s  Collection  of  Oriental  Manuscripts ,  p.  311, 


40  BETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.20. 

Bhatta  and  Pfabhakara  Mlmamsas.  It  is  their  duty  to 
teach  these  to  others.  They  are  to  discuss  religious 
and  sastraic  questions  in  assemblies  gathered  periodic¬ 
ally  for  the  purpose,  when  rewards  are  given  to  those 
who  excel  the  rest  in  learning.  They  are  to  demon¬ 
strate  to  others  the  greatness  of  the  Vedas  and 
Sastras  and  the  truth  of  the  Hindu  religion.  They 
were  thus  the  great  religious  teachers  of  Malabar, 
and  had  always  a  large  number  of  disciples  around 
them.  Those  who  teach  the  Vedas  are  known  as 

_  9 

Otikkans,  and  these  also  officiate  as  family  priests. 
The  Vadhyansor  heads  of  Vedic  schools,  of  which  there 
are  two,  one  at  Trichur  in  the  Cochin  State  and  the  other 
at  Tirunavaya  in'  British  Malabar  with  a  branch  at 
Kottayam  in  Travancore,  are  to  teach  the  Vedas  and  to 
supervise  the  moral  conduct  of  their  pupils.  The^ 
Vydikans  are  the  highest  authorities  to  decide  wfyat  does 
and  what  does  not  constitute  violations  of  caste  rules 
and  prescribe  expiatory  ceremonies.  There  are  six 
families  of  Vydikans,  two  for  each  gramams  of  Cho- 
varam  or  Sukapuram,  Perumanam  and  Irinnalakkuta. 
The  names  of  these  families  or  Illoms  are  : — (i)  Taikat, 
(2;  Kaplingat,  (3)  pjantal,  (4)  Perumpatappu,  (5) 
Kaymukku,  and  (6)  Chbrumukku.  The  Smarttas  are 
to  study  the  Smrtis,  and  other  Sastras  relating  to  law 
and  custom,  with  the  special  object  of  qualifying  them¬ 
selves  to  preside  over  Smartavicharams  or  socio-moral 
tribunals  called  by  the  Rajas  to  investigate  cases  of 
conjugal  infidelity  arising  amongst  Nambutiri  women. 
There  are  six  such  Smarttas.  Their  names  are  : — (1) 
Pattachomayar,  (2)  Muttamana  Bhattatiri,  (3)  Veliark- 
kattu  Bhattatiri,  (4)  Natuvattu  Putavar,  (5)  Iruva- 
chchi  Putavar,  and  (6)  Meppiiiy  Namputiri. 

4.  Samanya  Brahmanar. — Under  this  class  come 
the  majority  of  Nambutiris  from  whom  the  study  of  the 
Vedas  alone  is  all  that  is  excepted.  Their  chief  pro¬ 
fession  consists  in(i)  Archana  [performing  puja  (ritu¬ 
al  worship)]  in  temples;  (2)  Tantram  (duty  of  direct¬ 
ing  puja)  ;  (3)  Mantravadam  (mystic  enchantment); 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


41 


(4)  Purina  Parayanam  (the  reciting  of  Puranas),  (5) 
Muhurttadi  Kalavisesham  (astrology — foretelling  aus¬ 
picious  moments)  &c. 

(1)  Archakas. — On  the  East  Coast,  those  who  do 
Puja  to  ‘self-revealed’  (Swayambhu)  images  are  held  in 
low  estimation.  But,  in  Kerala,  as  the  land  is  purified  by 
the  performance  of  ceremonies,  and  as  the  images  are 
consecrated  and  are  therefore  considered  as  endowed 
with  great  sanctity,  no  slur  is  attached  to  the  profes¬ 
sion  of  PujSri,  (officiating  priest),  and  there  are  villages 
the  members  of  which,  as  well  as  particular  households, 
who  follow  the  profession  without  undergoing  any  de¬ 
gradation  in  caste  thereby. 

(2)  Tantris. — Among  the  Adhyans,  there  are 
certain  houses  professing  Tmtramin  temples  They 
are, by  virtue  of  this  office,  head-priests  of  sucn  te  n  ;  es. 
The  religious  services  of  the  pagodas  are  under  taeir 
direction,  though  they  have  no  voice  in  thnr  tem¬ 
poralities.  They  are  the  duly  constituted  Gurus 
(  preceptors )  of  the  temple  priests  and  are  the 
final  authorities  in  all  matters  of  temple  ritual.  They 
preside  at  Utsavams,  Pratishta-Kalasams,  presence 
purifactory  ceremonies.  &c.  The  chief  among  them  is 
the  Tarananellur  Namputirippad,  who,  the  Kerala- 
mahatmyam  says,  was  appointed  Tantri  of  24,000  tern, 
pies  in  Malabar  by  Paras u  Rama. 

(3)  Mantravadis — Their  profession  is,  after  the 
study  of  the  Vedas,  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the 
use  of  Mantrams  (mystic  formulas),  Yentrams  (cabalis 
tic  figures^  and  employ  them  along  with  Bali(sacrifices), 
Pujas  (rituais),  Danam  (gifts),  Homam  (oblations  to 
fire),  Rakshakara$am  (  protection  from  evil  spirits  ), 
Uchatanam  (  exorcism  ),  Vaslkaranam  (  subjection  ), 
Daijdanam  (  punishment  ),  Bandhanam  (  binding  ), 
Stambhanam  (  causing  of  stupification)  ,  Mara^am 
(destruction;,  &c.  for  the  protection  and  well-being  of 
others* 


42  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

(4)  Pouranikajimar — These  recite  and  expound 
the  Purapas,  such  as  the  Ramayanam,  Bharajam, 
Bhagavatam,  & c.,  in  temples  with  a  view  to  infuse 
among  worshippers  belief  in  religion  and  faith  in  God. 
These  are  called  Bharata  Bhattatirls. 

(5)  Jotish  SSstrakar — Their  profession  is  the 
study  of  astrology  by  means  of  which  they  are  to  fore¬ 
tell  the  happening  of  eclipses,  what  effect  these  have  on 
those  who  are  born  under  the  star  on  which  the  eclipses 
fall,  prescribe  auspicious  moments  for  ce remonies, &c., 
and  cast  horoscopes. 

5.  Jati  Matreyan.—This  class  is  divided  into  four 
sub-divisions : — 

(a)  The  Ashta  Vydians. 

(b)  The  Sastrangakar  and  Gramani  Adhyans. 

(c)  Those  who  have  given  up  the  study  of  the 
Vedas  on  account  of  physical  or  mental  incapacity  or 
imbecility. 

(d)  Those  who  have  done  the  same  having  be¬ 
come  slaves  to  the  passiqns. 

(a)  The  Ashta  Vydians — These  are  physicians 
by  profession.  They  are  said  to  have  become  degrad¬ 
ed  on  account  of  their  having  had  to  shed  blood  in 
performing  surgical  operations.  What  a  gross  misuse 
of  language  to  call  them  Jatimatreyans  or  nominal  Brah¬ 
mans,  because  they  follow  the  noble  profession  of 
medicine  and  surgery  !  In  Malabar,  there  are  eight 
houses  or  illams,  the  members  of  which  follow  the 
medical  profession,  and  the  names  of  these  have  already 
been  given.  They  are  also  called  Mussads  and  Narnpls. 

(b)  The  Sastrangakar. — These  are  said  to  have 
been  the  Brahmans  who  accepted  the  profession  of 
arms  from  Para£u  Rama.  The  Gramani  Adihyans  are 
those  who,  it  is  said,  actually  received  territorial  sov¬ 
ereignty  from  the  hands  of  the  sage.  These  two  are 
sup r  ->sed  to  have  gone  down  the  scale  of  Brahman- 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  43 

hood.  The  physicians,  the  soldiers,  and  the  kings  had 
other  duties  to  perform,  which  left  them  no  time  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  Vedas  exclusively, 
and  the  Nambuprls  in  course  of  time  came  to  look 
upon  them  as  a  class  not  entitled  to  the  study  of  the 
Vedas  and  to  be  associated  with  their  sacred  selves. 

9 

But  it  is  altogether  incorrect  to  class  them  as  Jatima- 
JrSyans  ;  for,  according  to  the  Keralotpatti,  the  fore¬ 
most  among  those  who  accepted  arms  from  Parasu  Rama 
was  the  Edappilii  Nampiatiri  or  the  Edappilli  Raja, 
who  is  thus  both  king  and  soldier.  Yet  he  is  at  this 
moment  considered  Adhyan  of  Adhyans  and  of  the 
very  highest  authority  as  a  Vedic  Nambutiri,  barring 
Aluvancheri  Tampurakkai.  Even  now,  all  the  above 
classes  have  what  is  called  Mutalmura  or  reading  the 
Vedas  or  hearing  it  read  once  at  any  rate.  The  obvious 
injustice  done  to  these  classes  requires  no  comment. 
Sub-divisions  ( c )  and  (d)  call  for  no  further  notice 
than  the  descriptions  given  of  them.  According  to  the 
Jatinir^naya,  these  classes  have  four  Sthanams  or  privi¬ 
leges.  These  are:— 

(1)  they  can  bathe  at  the  same  ghat  with  the 
Adhyans  (Katavuj; 

(2)  sit  for  meals  with  them  in  the  same  line 
(Panti); 

(3)  stage  (Arangu);  and 

(4)  kitchen  (Atukkaia). 

6.  Samk^tikanmar.  These  are  the  Eippfans 
or  Tuiu  Brahmans  and  have  6  sub-divisions  among 
them,  viz. : — (1)  Akkaractesi,  (2)  IkkaradgSi,  (3)  Trp- 
punitturadesi,  (4)  Tiruvelladesi,  (^5)  CarnatakadeSi, 
(6)  Tuludesi. 

These,  it  is  said,  ran  away  from  Kgraia  after  they 
were  settled  there  by  Parasu  Rama,  but  returned  soon 
afterwards  on  hearing  of' the  prosperity  and  wealth  of 
the  country. 


44 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L»  io« 

Of  the  above  sub-divisions,  the  first  and  second  were 
those  who  were  brought  by  Kulasekhara  Perumsi  to  his 
country,  Travancore,  and  settled  there.  The  third 
formed  a  colony  brought  by  the  Raja  of  Cochin  and 
settled  in  his  kingdom  ;  the  fourth  formed  another  co¬ 
lony  brought  by  the  Kolattunad  or  Cheracal  Raja  and 
settled  in  his  country  of  Kolattunsd,  North  Malabar, 
and  the  remaining  two  came  to  Malabar  of  their  own 
accord.  They  are  all  half  Malabar  and  half  Canarese 
or  Tuiu  Brahmans  in  their  daily  life,  customs,  man¬ 
ners,  etc.  Their  profession  consists  in  the  study  of 
the  Vedas,  performance  of  services  in  temples,  etc. 

Of  the  settlement  of  the  Tiruvelladesis  we  have  the  fol- 

•  » 

lowing  account  given  us  by  the  late  Ravi  Vurma  Raja, 
M.  A.,  B,  L.,  in  The  Malabar  Quarterly  Review : — 

“  The  Namburis  of  Perinchallur  GrSmam  were 
wof  t  from  time  immemorial  to  assist  in  the  perform¬ 
ance  of  religious  ceremonies  in  Kolaswaruparn.  There 
arose,  for  what  reason  it  is  not  known,  a  feud  between 
them  and  the  then  Kolattiri  Rajah,  and  in  consequence 
thereof,  the  former  sternly  refused  to  help  the  latter 
in  religious  ceremonies.  This  irritated  the  sovereign, 
and  he  resolved  to  dispense  with  their  services  in 
future  and  found  a  separate  Brahman  community  for 
the  purpose.  With  this  view,  he  went  to  Mangalore 
and  requested  the  Tulu  Brahmans  there  to  send  some 
families  to  his  country.  They  were  promised  full 
honours  and  large  estates.  To  test  the  sincerity  of 
the  Raja,  they  imposed  a  condition  on  him,  on  the  ful¬ 
filment  of  which  they  promised  to  go  with  him,  and 
the  condition  was  to  build  up  the  banks  of  a  big  tank  1 
called  Kotitlrtham  in  the  midst  of  the  village  in  six  i 
hours,  i.  e.,  between  9  p.  m.  and  3  a.  m.,  when  alone  • 
it  will  not  be  used.  Thanks  to  his  splendid  resources 
and  firm  resolution,  the  Raja  stood  the  test  to  the  very 
letter.  Thereupon  two  sets  of  families,  one  consisting 
of  237  and  the  other  of  257  houses,  represented 
usually  by  the  mnemonics,  Ssgaram  and  Samudram, 


45 


Introd.]  INTROD  CJCTORY  NOTES 

migrated  to  Kolattunad  and  they  are  the  so-called 
Tiruvalladesis  of  the  present  day.  Why  they  are  called 
by  this  designation  I  cannot  tell.  They  were  given  all 
the  privileges  which  once  belonged  to  Perinchallur  GrS- 
mam  Namburis.  Of  these  latter,  however,  the  members 
of  one  family  alone,  viz.*  Arippan,  stood  aloof  from 
their  comrades  in  the  quarrel  with  the  Rajah.  To  this 
family,  therefore,  was  given  the  Pourohitfyam,  and  the 
members  of  the  family  are  even  now  the  hereditary 
Purohitjs  (i.  e.,  family  priests)  of  Kolaswarupam.”1 

7.  Sapagrasttanmar. — These  are  supposed  to 
have  doubted  the  divinity  of  Parasu  Rama,  and  were 
consequently  cursed  by  the  sage.  Hence  called  ‘  the 
cursed  ones  .’ 

8.  Papishtan. — There  are  five  sub-divisions  of 
this  class  : — 

(1)  those  who  received  as  danam  or  gift  the 
sin  of  Parasu  Rama  incurred  by  the  destruction  of  the 
K§hetriya  race.  They  are  called  Urila  Parisha  Mus- 
sads  ; 

(2)  those  Graminls  who  permitted  the  murder 
of  Bhuta  Raya  Perumal  ; 

(3)  those  who  committed  the  deed.  They  are 
known  as  Nampitls  ; 

(4)  those  who  officiate  as  priests  to  Nayars  at 
their  SfSdha  ceremonies  called  Elayatus; 

(5)  the  inhabitants  of  the  Panfiyur  Gram- 
mam  who  destroyed  the  temple  of  Varaha  Murtti,  the 
Boar  incarnation  of  Vi§hnu. 

The  two  classes  of  Nyuna  Jatls  are  said  to  be 
the  Elayatu  and  the  Muttatu,  i.  e.,  the  ‘Junior’  and 
the  ‘Senior’.  Their  defect  consisted  in  the  one  ad¬ 
ministering  to  the  Sradhas  or  death-annual  ceremonies 
of  the  Nayars, 'and  the  other  partaking  of  food  served 
to  the  god  Siva. 

Of  these,  the  Muttafus  are  said  to  be  emigrants 
from  the  other  coast.  There  they  were  a  degraded 

1,  Vol.  I,  pp.  294-*: 


46 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.20. 

class  of  Brahmans  whose  duty  was  to  do  puja  to  the 
phallic  emblem  of  Siva  and  to  partake  of  the  offerings 
to  that  deity.  They  were  there  designated  Siva  Dwijas. 
In  Malabar  to  do  puja  in  a  temple  is  not  considered 
degrading  to  any  class  of  Brahmans,  even  to  the  high¬ 
est,  and  so  to  the  Muttatu  is  assigned  the  duty  of 
carrying  the  idol,  in  certain  temples,  round  the  temple 
in  the  daily  service,  to  act  as  guards  to  the  deity,  to 
wash  the  Srlkovil,  i.  e.,  the  inner  sanctum  excepting 
the  Garbha  Grham  or  the  sanctum  sanctorum,  to  pre¬ 
pare  and  make  ready  the  rice  to  be  offered  to  the  god 
and  do  such  other  services  in  the  temple.  That  with 
which  the  idol  is  bathed,  that  with  which  it  is  adorned, 
that  which  is  offered  to  it— -these  are  the  peculiar  per¬ 
quisites  of  the  Muttatu.  Their  women  go  by  the 
name  of  Manayammamar  and  carry  the  Marakuta  or 
umbrella  with  them,  like  the  Nambutiri  women.  Their 
ceremonies  do  not  differ  much  from  those  of  the  Naip- 
bujirls.  They  follow  the  MakkattSyam  form  of  in¬ 
heritance. 

The  Elayatus  owe  their  degradation,  as  already 

observed,  to  their  officiating  as  Purohits  to  the  Nayars. 

Thfcir  profession  is  to  act  as  such  and  to  live  on  the 

perquisites  attached  to  the  office.  They  are  their  own 

priests.  They  also  do  services  in  temples  of  their  own 

and  in  some  others  that  are  the  property  of  NSyars. 

They  have  also  certain  duties  at  the  Tali  marriages  of 

Nayars.  In  some  places  they  are  called  Nampisps. 

Their  ceremonies  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  Nam- 

• 

bnprls.  Their  women  are  called  ‘Elorammah  These 
too  carry  the  Marakuta  and  follow  the  practices  of 
Nambupri  women.  The  Eiayatus  are  MakkattSyls 
and  in  all  respects  resemble  the  Nambutiris. 

General  Appearance. — The  Nambutiris  are  a  very 
fair  coloured  race  of  men,  with  well-defin6d,  regular 
features.  They  wear  the  Kudumma  or  tuft  of  hair  in 
front  on  the  top  and  not  on  the  back  of  the  head  as  the 
Brahmans  on  the  other  coast.  The  EipprSns  wear  it 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  4? 

\ 

half  way  between  the  brown  of  the  head  and  the  back. 
The  Sankara  Smrti  prescribes  rules  regarding  the 
position  and  extent  of  the  tuft  of  hair  to  be  left  un¬ 
shaved  on  the  crown  of  the  head.  It  says  that  four 
fingers  length  upwards  from  where  the  hair  appears 
on  the  forehead,  is  the  place  for  Devp,  Sikha,  or  tuft  of 
the  gods,  to  the  extent  of  four  fingers  in  breadth. 
Thence  receding  four  fingers  length  beyond  is  the 
place  for  PysScha  Sikha  or  tuft  of  Pysachas  or  spirits. 
Four  fingers  length  further  is  the  place  for  Asura 
Sikha,  tuft  of  the  Demons.  Bhsrgava’s  injunction  is 
that  the  Brahmans  of  the  southern  32  of  the  64  Gramas 
should  adopt  the  first  and  the  northern  32  the  second.1 
The  growth  of  hair  on  the  head  is  plentiful,  glossy  and 
wavy.  The  Nambu tin’s  tuft  occupies  an  oval  patch  on 
the  crown  of  the  head,  removed  more  to  the  front  than 
to  the  back,  and  is  worn  long.  It  is  tied  into  a  knot 
and*  thrown  behind,  the  hair  spreading  on  the  head. 
All  but  the  oval  patch  is  shaved.  So  also  the  face. 
But  when  the  NambUjiri’s  wife  is  pregnant,  he  refrains 
from  the  barber.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Malabar 
people  are  peculiar  in  having  their  tuft  in  front-  All 
Hindus  but  Malaysiis  wear  it  on  the  back  of  the  head 
except  the  Mukkani  and  Cholian  Brahmans  of  the 
East  Coast.  It  has  been  surmised  that  Parasu  Rama’s 
first  colony  was  composed  of  these  Brahmans,  and  that 
the  tradition  of  the  Sage’s  having  changed  the  tuft  of 
his  newly  brought  Brahmans  for  a  national  purpose  is 
a  fiction.  Of  course  we  have  at  present  no  means  of 
testing  the  truth  of  the  theory  or  of  the  fact.  But  there 
is  a  saying  in  Malabar  “  Purva  sikha  paradeSattu  nishi- 
dham”,  meaning  “the  front  tuft  is  forbidden  in  Para- 
desa  ”  (East  Coast).  The  Nambutiris  grow  their 
finger  nails  sometimes  very  long.  After  bath,  they 
wear  on  their  foreheads  the  horizontal  Saivite  marks 
with  the  Bhasmam  or  sacred  ashes  and  the  vertical 
Vichiiuvite  mark  with  the  Gopichandanam  (san¬ 
dal).3  It  has  been  remarked  of  the  Nariibutiri’s  general 

1.  SI.  13  to  16— Chap.  1,  Pt.  3. 

s.  See  Sizu&a/d  Smri!hi%  Chap.  IV,  Pt.  II,  S£j.  20  to  2$. 


48  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

appearance  that  “there  is  about  his  good  old  person  and 
his  quaint  looking  dress  and  jewelry,  a  Sstvic  (mild  and 
guileless)  beauty  which  the  eye  delights  to  dwell  on.” 

The  Nambufiri  lady  is  generally  uncommonly  fair 
and  handsome.  Being  strictly  ghosha,  the  women  shut 
themselves  up  inside  their  houses  and  seldom  move 
about  except  on  extreme  urgency.  They  then  shelter 
themselves  behind  broad  round  cadjan  umbrellas,  spe¬ 
cially  made  for  the  purpose,  which  are  turned  against 
the  passer-by.  They  have  long  and  glossy  hair,  which 
is  parted  at  the  crown  and  drawn  tight  to  the  ears  with 
a  knot  at  the  back.  After  bath,  they  put  on  three  horizon¬ 
tal  lines  on  their  foreheads  with  sandal  paste.  The 
Atjhya  women  put  these  on  in  a  crescent  like  form. 
They  apply  also  eye-salves,  which  extend  as  dark  lines 
up  to  the  ears  on  either  side. 

Clothing . — The  Narpbutirls  are  very  sparing  in 
their  clothing,  and  do  not  seem  to  feel  the  shame  of 
walking  about  almost  naked,  a  habit  which  is  not  coun¬ 
tenanced  by  the  Smrti,  which  they  profess  to  follow 
The  Sankara  Smrti,  supposed  to  be  a  compendium  of 
the  ordinances  originally  laid  down  by  ParaSu  Rama  and 
extracted  and  expounded  by  the  renowned  Vedantist 
Sankarschsrya,  lays  down  sumptuary  laws  for  their  gui¬ 
dance,  and  these  do  not  certainly  permit  them  to  be 
scantily  clothed.  The  Naipbutiris  are  strict  S  wade- 
shies  and  would  not  on  any  account  go  in  for  Bilstti 
(European)  piece-goods  as  wearing  apparel.  Manches¬ 
ter  piece-goods  are  taboo  to  them.  They  wear  a  cloth 
of  local  manufacture,  4  or  5  cubits  in  length  with  a  red 
line  border,  round  their  waist  reaching  a  little  below 
the  knee.  They  eschew  the  use  of  silk  or  coloured 
cloths  of  any  kind,  as  well  as  a  plain  white  cloth  with¬ 
out  a  border.  Their  mode  of  dressing  is  peculiar. 
That  of  the  males  is  known  as  Tattutukkal,  which 
is  done  on  religious  occasions  by  tying  a  long  piece 
of  country-made  cloth  round  the  waist  with  a  por¬ 
tion  of  it  passing  between  the  thighs  and  tucked  in 

/ 


NAMPUTIRi  aNL>  HIS  ANTHARJANAM. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  49 

at  the  front  and  behind,  with  the  front  portion  arranged 
into  a  number  of  reduplications.  This  mode  of  dress¬ 
ing  exhibits  a  front  Covered  by  numerous  folds  hanging 
down  from  the  waist  to  the  feet,  while  the  buttocks  are 
left  almost  exposed.  They  wear  wooden  shoes,  but 
are  not  averse  to  leather  ones,  though  they  will  not  , 
allow  the  heel  of  the  foot  to  be  covered.  On  ordinary 
occasions,  they  dress  like  the  Nayars  and  seem  not  to 
be  averse  to  wear  Manchester  made  mulls.  Some 
affect  elegance  by  tying  the  cloth  round  the  body 
below  the  arm-pits.  The  Nambutiri  woman,  who  is 
called  an  Antarjanam  or  Akattamma,  i.  e.,  one  who  is 
inside  (^strictly  ghosha),  also  dresses  in  a  peculiar  style. 
While  the  ordinary  Nambufiri  woman  dresses  in  the 
style  called  Neriftnutukkuka,  the  Adhyan  lady  dress¬ 
es  in  the  style  known  as  Okkum  Koiuttum  Vachchutu- 
kkuka.  A  white  piece  of  cloth,  for  coloured  ones 
and  silk  are  prohibited,  about  io  cubits  in  length  is 
fastened  round  the  loins,  a  portion  of  it  passes  between 
the  legs,  the  whole  reaching  well  below  the  knee.  A 
gold  border  to  this  cloth  is  allowed.  They  do  not 
wear  the  ravukka ,  or  half-jacket  which  is  but  a  recent 
introduction  into  Malabar.  At  home,  inside  the  house, 
they  dress  themselves  like  Nsyar  women  but,  while  walk¬ 
ing  abroad,  they  cover  themselves  up  with  a  long  piece 
of  cloth  leaving  only  the  feet  exposed;  one  end  of  the 
cloth  is  so  held  up  in  the  hand  which  holds  also  the 
Mafakkuta,or  the  covering  umbrella  already  mentioned, 
as  to  cover  the  face  and  the  body  completely.  Walking 
abroad,  they  are  always  accompanied  by  a  Dssi  or 
Vi§hall  i.  e.,  a  Nayar  maid,  and  a  Nayar  servant,  one  of 
whom  walks  in  front,  while  the  other  follows  behind, 
who  call  out  to  the  wayfarers  to  move  off  the  road. 
The  Nambutirls  insist  on  their  women  folk  wearing 
about  their  persons  as  much  clothing  as  they  would 
persistently  deny  to  Nayar  women. 

0/ name uls. — The  Nambutiri  wears  but  few  or¬ 
naments  on  his  person.  He  has  finger  rings  made  of 
gold,  and  often  set  with  stones.  A  finger  ring  of 

G. 


50  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L,  20. 

peculiar  make  is  considered  sacred  and  necessary  on 
religious  occasions.  This  is  the  Pavitfam,  which  is 
of  gold  and  of  the  thickness  of  an  ordinary  finger  ring 
with  an  ‘8’-like  figure  worked  on  it,  having  on  each  side 
a  dotted  pattern,  the  rest  being  plain  or  worked  in  lines. 
In  place  of  this,  Pavitrams  made  of  Durbha  grass  are 
put  on  when  performing  religious  ceremonies.  The 
latter  is  of  course  the  most  orthodox.  The  Nambuprls 
bure  the  ears  as  other  Hindus  do,  but  are  prohibited 
from  wearing  ear-rings.  Those,  however,  who  have 
performed  the  Agniyajana  and  are  Agnihotrls,  use 
ear-pendants  known  as  kuijdalam  or  less  elaborate 
ones  called  kunukku  made  of  gold.  The  Nambu$irls 
sometimes  wear  round  their  necks  neck-laces  of 
Rudrak§ha  (nuts  of  the  Elaocarpus  Ganitrus)  or 
'J'ulasimarii  mounted  in  gold.  The  middle  bead  of 
these  necklaces  will  be  generally  a  Gouri  Sankar,  repre¬ 
senting  Siva  and  Parvati  curiously  worked  in  gold 
and  set  with  precious  stones. 

The  proscription  against  the  use  of  valuable 
ornaments  is  even  more  strict  in  the  case  of  Naip- 
bu^ri  women.  The  desire  for  valuable  ornaments, 
.a  weakness  natural  to  women  all  over  the  world,  is 
rigorously  suppressed  by  the  ordinances  to  which  the 
Naipbufiris  are  subject.  The  Sankara- Smrti  ordains, 
she  could  wear  on  both  arms  only  bracelets  made  of 
brass  or  bell-metal.  Those  made  silver  are  not  objec¬ 
tionable;  but  of  gold  never.  She  should  never  have  a 
nose  screw.  She  should  not  have  Her  hair  plaited. 
She  should  not  ornament  her  forehead  with  dots  of 
beautiful  pattern.  The  cloth  round  the  loins  should 
not  be  fastened  with  a  gridle*  She  may  wear  an  ear 
ornament  made  of  gold  called  Chiftfu  and  round 
her  neck  a  string  made  of  cotton  thread  with  a 
{2li  hanging  by  it.  She  should  not  wear  rings 
on  her  tees;  neither  anklets  nor  ornaments  on 
the  crown  of  the  head.i  That  these  rules  are  not 
very  strictly  observed  in  practice  is  but  natural. 
For  Mr.  Fawcett  tells  us  that  “in  North  Malaba^ 
l.  Chap.  7,  pt.  4. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  51 

golden  bangles  are  worn  as  a  rule — pace  Mr.  Logan.” 
Dr.  Subramania  Ayyar  observes  that  “a  peculiar 
kind  of  necklace,  called  cherutsli,  is  also  worn  and 
beneath  this  the  Adhyan  women  wear  garlands  of 
manis  or  gold  pieces,  along  with  other  jewels,  known 
as  KSS'umSla,  Puttali  and  Kaluttila”.  The  Nambutiri 
widow  is  allowed  to  wear  ornaments  except  the  Tali, 
and  she  is  not  to  shave  her  head  as  among  the  East 
Coast  Brahmans. 

A  Nambutiri  female  before  she  attains  puberty  is 
known  as  Unni  Kitavu;  after  puberty  till  marriage  as 

Pen  Kitavu.  If  she  remains  unmarried  after  she  has 

•  • 

come  of  age,  she  is  called  Nanga  Pill  a,  and  after 
marriage  she  is  known  as  Akayil  U Haver,  Attenmar  or 
Akattuilavar.  There  is  no  ceremony  on  the  attain¬ 
ment  of  puberty.  But  on  the  appearance  of  the  menses, 
the  girl  has  to  sit  apart  in  a  special  place  and  is  held 
unclean.  According  to  the  Sankara-Smrfi,  the 
following  rules  have  to  be  observed  by  a  woman 
in  her  periods.  She  should  not  touch  the  roofing 
of  the  house.  She  should  sit  apart  inside  the  house 
specially  reserved  for  the  purpose.  She  should  not 
clean  her  teeth.  If  she  does  this,  her  children  will 
have  blackened  teeth  or  have  deceased  gums  or  have 
irregular  teeth.  She  should  not  take  an  oil  bath.  It 
will  make  her  children  look  rough.  She  should  not 
paint  her  eye-lashes  with  lampblack,  for  her  issue  will 
be  born  blind.  She  should  not  adorn  her  hair  with 
flowers,  for  her  issue  will  become  bald-headed.  She 
should  not  use  sandalpaste,  etc.,  for  that  will  bring  on 
skin  disease  to  her  children.  She  should  not  sit  out¬ 
side  the  house  at  dusk,  for  her  children  will  then  be 
subject  to  epilepsy.  If  she  walks  on  the  road  at  this 
time,  her  children  would  become  lame.  She  should 
not  wear  a  double  cloth,  Enapputaka,  i.  e.,  two  cloths, 
round  her  loins,  lest  her  children  become  lepers.  If 
she  takes  her  meals  from  a  bell-metal  vessel,  her 
children  will  have  to  beg  for  their  living.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  she  is  served  with  her  meals  in  a  plantain 


52  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

leaf,  her  children  will  shine  with  Brahma-Tejas,  i.e,  the 
effulgent  light  of  the  Brahman.  But  the  leaf  of  the 
Arayal  ( Ficus  Religiosci)y  the  Peril  (Ficus  Indica)  and 
the  PillSa  ( Butea  Frondosa)  should  be  avoided.  She 
should  have  a  vessel  set  apart  for  her  use.  She  should 
not  touch  any  other.  In  no  circumstance  should  she 
bathe  on  the  third  day.  If  the  performance  of  any 
ceremony,  such  as  SrSrdha  falls  on  that  day,  she  should 
fast  on  that  day  and  have  it  performed  the  next  day 
after  the  ceremonial  bath.  This  ceremonial  bath  she 
can  take  only  after  sunrise  on  the  fourth  day.  She  has 
to  wear  round  her  a  cloth  washed  by  a  Ma$plfti  or 
Vgla  woman  (a  low  caste  washing  class)  and  should  be 
attended  by  Pariyapetjaval,  i.e,  a  Nayar  woman  attached 
to  her  Illam.  On  returning  from  her  bath,  the  first 
look  she  should  have  must  be  at  her  husband’s  face. 
She  could,  after  the  bath  on  the  fourth  day,  enter  the 
kitchen*. 

Habitation.— A  Narnbtjjiri’s  house  is  called  an 
Illam  or  Mana,  the  one  a  Telugu  and  the  other  a 
Canarese  term  meaning  house.  The  Illam  is  generally 
situated  in  the  midst  of  an  extensive  garden-  planted , 
with  many  kinds  of  trees  especially  the  jack,  the  mango 
the  areca,  the  laurel  and  the  plantain,  amidst  whose 
cool,  luxuriant  and  shady  .foliage  it  rears  its  roof  giving 
secluded  shelter  to  the  inmates.  All  sorts  of  edible  vege¬ 
tables  and  roots  are  grown  in  the  garden  round  the  house. 
A  lank  is  an  inseparable  accompaniment,  with  bathing 
shed  and  ghauts.  The  Nambujiri  can  cleanse  his 
body  and  soul  only  with  a  plunge-bath,  and  he  general¬ 
ly  dips  himself  twice  a  day  in  cold  water  ;  for  this 
alone  confers  the  requisite  ablutional  purity.  The  in¬ 
evitable  Sar pakkivu  or  serpent  grove  is  located  in  the 
north-western  corner  of  the  compound.  The  structure 
of  the  Naipbupri’s  house  is  described  elsewhere. 
The  furniture  is  of  the  simplest  description.  A 
few  bell-metal  pots,  pans,  and  settles  for  cooking 
purposes,  a  few  planks  wrought  after  the  manner  of 

x.  Part  3,  Chapter  12. 


TYPICAL  NAMPUTIRI  ILLOM. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  S3 

a  tortoise,  Ava^apalaka,  the  Kurmasana,  for  purposes 
of  sitting,  several  cots,  some  made  of  planks  of  wood, 
while  others  are  lined  with  coir  rope,  and  one  or  two 
hanging  cots  attached  to  the  ceiling  by  chains  of  iron, 
skins  of  leopard  or  the  spotted  deer  used  to  sit  on 
during  prayers— these  form  the  full  complement  of  a 
Nambufiri’s  house-hold  furniture.  Chairs,  tables, 
mirrors,  globes,  etc.,  are  being  slowly  introduced  into 
the  Nambutiri’s  house.  But  these  are  not  popular 
with  the  orthodox. 

Laws  of  inheritance . —  The  Nambu{:iris  follow 
the  Makka^ayam  system  of  inheritance  from  father 
to  son,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Marumakkatjayam 
system,  according  to  which  not  one’s  own  issue,  but 
one’s  sister’s  children  inherit  property.  The  latter  is 
the  Nayar  system.  The  NambufirTs  follow  the  Hindu 
Law  as  modified  by  custom.  The  family  property  is 
joint  and  impartible.  The  eldest  male  member  is 
manager,  irrespective  of  his  being  the  son  of  the  last 
holder,  and  the  junior  members  have  only  the  right  to 
be  maintained  in  the  illam.  Their  self-acquisitions 
lapse  to  the  joint  family  at  their  death.  In  fact  the 
archaic  Hindu  system  of  succession  and  inheritance  is 
still  kept  up  in  all  its  integrity.  In  default  of  male 
issue  to  represent  the  illam,  the  last  surviving  girl  is 
given  over  in  marriage  with  all  her  patrimony  by  a  cere¬ 
mony  called  Sarvaswadsnam  (gift  of  all  or  everything) 
after  which  the  son-in-law  assumes  management  of  the 
property  in  trust  for  the  to-  be-  born  son,  to  whom  it 
is  Handed  over,  if  born,  on  attainment  of  majority. 
The  lineage  is  further  kept  upon  failure  of  male  issue 
by  means  of  adoptions  and  affiliations  of  which  there 
are  various  forms  such  as  (i)  Pattu  Kayyal  Daftu, 
(2)  Chan  Chamafa  and  (3)  Ayaftuvidhi. 

(1)  Pattu  Kayyal  Dafju,  i.  e.,  adoption  by 
ten  hands— w,?.,  those  of  the  adopter’s  { father  and 
mother),  of  the  adoptee  and  of  the  adoptee’s  parents  or 
guardians.  Generally  the  boy  selected  is  one  on 
whom  the  Upanayana,  or  the  ceremony  of  the  investiture 


54  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.  20. 

with  the  sacred  thread  has  not  been  performed.  This 
form  of  adoption  is  the  most  approved  one. 

(2)  Chan  Chamata  Dattu. — This  means  adoption 
by  Chamata,  i.  e,  adoption  in  which  the  essential  cere¬ 
mony,  besides  gift  and  acceptance  of  the  adoptee 
consists  in  putting  into  the  fire  or  sacrificing  a  span 
(Chan)  of  a  sacred  plant  called  Chamata. 

(3)  Ayajtu  Vidhi  Dattu. — This  is  simply  the  taking 
into  the  family  and  constituting  the  adoptee  as  heir  to 
the  adoptor,  without  any  religious  ceremony.  This  is 
simple  affiliation  and  is  generally  the  form  in  which 
widows  take  in  heirs  to  the  last  male  holder. 

The  second  or  the  Chan  Chamata  form  confers 
the  right  of  sonship  on  the  adoptee,  though  not  as 
efficacious  from  a  religious  point  of  view  as  No.  1. 
Such  adoptee  loses  all  rights  in  his  natural  family  except 
to  offer  Pi^das  or  oblations  to  the  manes  of  ancestors 
and  to  succeed  to  the  property  of  that  family,  in  default 
of  other  members  therein,  and  becomes  a  member  of 
that  joint  family  to  which  he  is  adopted.  As  to  the  third 
form  it  is,  as  already,  observed  but  a  mere  affiliation,  and 
is  practised  to  a  large  extent  by  the  Nambufirls,  but  it 
is  difficult  to  say  if  the  courts  would  recognise  such  a 
custom  when  the  family  is  represented  solely  by  females. 

Neither  an  eldest  son  nor  an  only  son  should  be 
given  or  taken  in  adoption.  The  degrees  of  prohibition 
as  regards  relationship  in  cases  of  marriage  also  apply 
to  adoption.  Neither  a  sister’s  son  nor  a  daughter’s 
son  should  be  adopted.  But  the  latter  is  allowed  in 
extreme  cases  of  necessity,  though  the  former  is  allowed 
under  no  circumstances.1 

Some  17  houses  of  Nambutiri  Brahmans  of  the 
Payyannur  Gramam  in  North  Malabar  follow  the  Maru- 
makkafjayam  system,  and  are  looked  upon  as  of  an 
inferior  order.  They  are  called  AmmoiWnmar. 

Food*-— The  lines  of  the  Lusiad, 

“To  crown  their  meal  no  meanest  life  expires, 

Pulse,  fruit  and  herb  alone  their  food  requires” 

1.  See  Sankara  Smriti ,  pt.  3  of  Chap.  6. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


55 


Introd.l 

are  strictly  true  of  the  Nambutiri’s  daily  food.  Their 
staple  food  is  rice  and  vegetable  curry  with  condi¬ 
ments  known  as  Uppilittatu  (pickles  of  sorts),  and  sauce 
known  as  Sammandhi.  To  these  are  added  Upperi  or 
chopped  plantains,  yams,  etc.,  fried  in  cocoanut  oil,  and 
Pappadam  or  round  crisp-flour  cakes  also  fried  in 
cocoanut  oil.  They  like  both  sour  and  sweet  things,  but 
are  afraid  of  pungent  ones.  The  curries  usual  among 
them  are  the  same  as  those  mentioned  in  our  account 
of  the  Ogam  feast.  To  those  may  be  added  Mulaka 
shyam  and  Melukkupunttti.  Both  are  favourites  with 
the  JNambutirls,  the  former  is  a  preparation  of  sliced 
vegetables  boiled  in  water  with  salt'  and  chillies  and 
seasoned  with  cocoanut  oil  and  Kariveppila  (a  kind  of 
leaf) r;  while  in  the  preparation  of  the  latter,  the  water  in 
which  the  sliced  vegetables  are  boiled  is  strained  off 
and  the. slices  themselves  are  seasoned  with  cocoanut 
oil  over  a  slow  fire.  Ghee  is  not  much  used.  The 
conjee  or  rice  gruel  with  accessories  is  the  Narpbu- 
tiri’s  favourite  mid-day  meal.  Tea  and  coffee  are  not 
prescribed  in  their  Sastr2s,  and  are  therefore  looked  at 
askance.  But  of  late,  the  progressives  amongst  them 
indulge  in  these,  though  on  the  sly.  They  are  however 
steadily  coming  into  fashion.  They  seldom  drink  cold 
water:  Their  drinking  water  is  known  as  Chukku 
Veilam.  It  is  water  boiled  a^id  flavoured  with  dried 
ginger,  cummin  seeds,  coriander,  etc.  The  ladies  take 
their  meals  separately.  When  there  are  no  strangers, 
the  wife  se  /es  meals  to  her  husband.  But,  if  tnere 
are  guests  c  ining  with  the  Nambutiri,  the  food  is  serv¬ 
ed  by  a  Pattar  Brahman  or  a  younger  male  member  of 
the  family.  It  is  served  on  plantain  leaves,  which  take 
the  place  of  plates.  .The  Nambutiri  ladies  do  not 
partake  of  food  cooked  by  Pattar  Brahmans,  but  the 
male  members  of  the  Iilam  have  no  objection  to  do  so. 
Strictly  speaking,  the  Narpbupris  are  allowed  only  one 
rice  meal  a  day,  their  supper  being  confined  to  fruits; 

i.  Kariveppu— Bergera  Koenigii. 


56  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [  L.  20, 

but,  in  practice,  they  take  rice  oftener — not  less  seldom 
than  twice  a  day.  A  widow  is  confined  always  to  one' 
meal.  Certain  vegetables,  such  as  the  gourd  and  other 
articles  as  palmyra  fruit  and  jaggery,  etc.,  are  among 
those  a  Najnbutiri  is  prohibited  from  eating.  The 
wife  takes  charge  of  the  leaf  off  which  the  husband  has 
dined  by  holding  it  by  her  right  hand,  the  husband 
touching  it  by  the  left  before  be  rises  from  his  seat. 
This  is  to  indicate  that  the  wifejs  eating  in  continua¬ 
tion  and  not  the  echchil,  or  the  remains  of  the  victuals 
which  are  considered. impure. 

In  the  nth  Chapter  of  the  Sankara  Smrti,  there  are 
certain  rules  laid  down  regarding  the  taking  of  food  by 
the  four  orders  of  Nambufirls,  viz.,  the  BrahmachSri, 
the  Grahasfan,  the  Vanaprasfan,  and  the  Sanyasi. 
The  BrahmachSri  or  the  student  who  has  to  live  in  his 
preceptor’s  house  may  take  the  food  he  pleases  there. 
To  him,  that  is  the  purest  food,  equal  to  Ambrosia. 
The  Grahasja  must,  before  he  takes  his  meals,  satisfy 
the  hunger  of  the  Gods,  the  Pitr us  (spirits  of  ancestors), 
guests,  pupils  and  household  divinities.  He  can  take 
only  what  is  left  after  these  are  served.  The  Vana- 
prasfa  should,  so  far  as  he  possibly  can,  live  on  air. 
He  can,  at  any  rate,  only  eat  wild  fruits  and  roots  that 
grow  in  the  forest.  He  should  not  eat  anything  that 
is  ground  in  a  mortar-  He  must  satisfy  himself  with 
having  his  food  ground  by  his  teeth,  i.  e.,  he  should 
not  partake  of  things  boiled.  The  Sanyasi  can  have  only 
one  meal  a  day.  He  must  partake  only  of  what  he' gets 
by  begging.  He  can  drink  only  water.  Then  follow 
rules  that  are  common  to  all  Nairibufiris.  No  one 
should  take  unclean  food.  Nothing  should  be  taken 
within  six  hours  of  the  occurrence  of  an  eclipse  of  the 
sun  or  moon.  Food  may  be  taken  after  bath,  when  the 
eclipse  is  fully  over  and  the  surface  of  the  sun  or  moon 
is  fully  visible.  If  a  Nambu{iri  comes  to  know  of  any 
untoward  thing  having  happened  to  a  Brahman  or  a 
cow,  he  should  desist  from  taking  his  food,  till  he  tries 


57 


Introd.j  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

all  he  can  to  give  then!  relief,  and  till  he  has  sympathis¬ 
ed  with  them.  He  should  not  take  meals  at  the  moment 
when  the  king  or  his  own  relative  is  plunged  in 
grief,  at  the  dead  of  night,  at  midday,  when  his  previous 
food  has  not  been  well-digested,  at  dawn  and  at  dusk. 
No  food  should  be  taken  with  a  wet  cloth  on,  or  with 
naked  body,  or  sitting  at  a  window,  and  not  on  the 
floor,  or  on  a  broken  plank,  or  on  tiptoe,  or  lying 
down,  or  sitting  in  the  lap  of  another,  or  from  a  broken 
vessel,  or  from  the  bare  floor,  or  holding  the  food  in 
the  bare  hand  without  a  leaf  or  vessel.  No  salt  ought 
to  be  served  before  prayers  at  meals  are  over.  While 
*  sitting  at  meals,  children  should  not  be  abused.  No 
one  should  sit  by  himself  for  meals.  But  an  enemy,  a 
wife  and  one  who  by  caste  rules  is  not  allowed  to  sit 
in  the  same  line  should,  on  no  account,  be  allowed  to  sit 
by  you.  Rice  prepared  with  gingely  seed,  as  well  as 
curds,  should  not  be  taben  in  the  night.  Milk  ought 
not  to  be  taken  in  the  day  time  ;  food  ought  not  to 
be  taken  before  performing  homam  (sacrifice),  or 
before  one  s  parents  have  taken  theirs.  Remains 
-and  refuse  of  victuals  should  not  be  taken.  No 
food  should  be  taken  without  ghee.  Food  should 
not  be  taken  outside  a  house,  or  in  the  view  of  a  great 
multitude,  or  in  an  altogether  uninhabited  house.  The' 
stomach  should  at  no  time*  be  over-filled.  If  the  food 
and  Acharams  (observances)  are  pure,  the  heart  will 
be  pure,  and  God  will  bestow  grace  only  on  an  abso¬ 
lutely  pure  heart.  Otherwise,  one  will  be  cast  in  the 
darkness  of  hell  and  will  have  to  be  grieving  there. 

Occupation . — We  know  already  something  regard¬ 
ing  the  occupations  pursued  by  the  eight  classes  of 
Narpbutirls  described  above.  It  is  apparent  that  the 
original  Brahman  families  divided  among  themselves. 
They  assigned  the  •  profession  of  medicine  to  one 
class,  sorcery  and  magic  to  another,  astronomy 
and  astrology  to  a  third,  and  the  duty  of’  performing 

pUjas  in  temples  to  a  fourth,  and  so  on.  The  Narpbutirls 

H. 


58  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  26 

were,  according  to  tradition,  brought  into  Keraiaa 
colonists  to  people  the  country,  and  the  socio-economic 
polity  of  their  patron  sage  found,  for  the  various  classes 
into  which  the  community  was  divided,  exclusive 
occupations.  While  some  had  the  government  of  the 
land,  o.hers  were  equipped  with  arms  to  protect  the 
count  y  from  foreign  incursions  and  internecine  quar¬ 
rels  Another  set  was  endowed  with  spiritual  functions 
and  so  on.  That  these  exclusive  divisions  were  not 
stri  itly  maintained  till  of  late  is  evident.  Notwithstand¬ 
ing  that  those  who  exercised  territorial  sovereignty 
were  held  not  competent  to  study  the  Vedas,  we  have 
the  fact  that  there  were  territorial  magnates  among  the 
highest  class  of  Vedic  Nambutiris,  to  wit,  the  Rajas  of 
Chernpakassery  or  Ambaldppula  or  Poracad  and  Edap- 
piiiy.  Our  author  speaks  of  the  Raja  of  Poracad  as  a 
spiritual  prince.  “Parur”,  he  says  “is  a  powerful  ecclesi¬ 
astical  Raja.”  Again,  according  to  him,  “the  Princes  of 
Poracad  and  ParUr,  being  Brahmans,  have  alone  the 
privilege  of  being  seated  in  the  presence  of  the  Raja  of 
Cochin.”  “The  former,”  it  is  added  “is  superior 
both  in  sanctity  and  rank.”  “The  kings  who  hold 
the  reins  of  Government  at  Edappiiiy  on  the  coast  of 
Malabar  and  also  at  Pafur  and  Araceri,  are  certainly 
Brahmans,”  says  Bartolomeo.1  Really  the  profession  of 
arms  did  not  disqualify  any  Brahman  from  the  study  of 
the  Vedas  or  detract  from  his  sanctimonious  character. 
The  Edappiiiy  Chief,  as  we  have  said,  was  the  foremost 
who  accepted  arms  from  Parasu  Rama  and,  even  so 
late  as  the  Portuguese  period,  we  see  him  fighting  that 
nation,  espousing  the  cause  of  the  Zamorin,  and  leading 
the  Zamoriu’s  land  forces  as  also  his  navy  in  the  fight 
at  the  ford  of  Cambaiam.  A  Brahman  general  is 
known  as  Nambiatiri,  and  the  Raja  of  Edappiiiy  is 
called  by  pre-eminence  Edappiiiy  Nambiatiri,  while 
there  are  still  to  be  found  others  bearing  the  title,  such 
as  Indanfuru{ti  Nambiatiri,  Periippiiiialaft  Naipbia- 
tiri,  etc.  But  it  is  qtiite  true  that  they  never  served 
1.  P.  296. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  59 

in  the  ranks,  as  fighting  units  in  the  armies  of  the 
Rajas.  Archbishop  Meneses,  who  had  an  interview 
with  the  then  Raja  of  Poracsd,  describes  him  as  a 
“young  man  of  short  stature,  but  well-proportioned, 
and  distinguished  among  the  Rajas  of  Malabar  for  his 
valour  and  courtesy.”  This  Prince  was  accorded  the 
high  honour  of  being  styled  “Brother-in-arms  to  the 
King  of  Portugal.”  Meneses  observes  “that  he  called 
himself  Nambrache  (NambutirP,  that  is,  High  Priest 
and  was  very  zealous  in  his  devotions.”  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  patron  saint  of  the  Nambutirls, 
Para§u  Rama,  was  himself  a  Brahman  of  the  militant 
type,  having  fought  with  and  destroyed  the  K§hatrlya 
race  thrice-seven  times  over.  That  the  study  of  V^das 
and  the  practice  of  religious  austerities  are  not  incom¬ 
patible  with  the  profession  of  arms  is  clearly  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  the  instructors  in  arms  of  both  the 
Cochin  and  Travancore  Rajas  are  Brahmans  of  the 
V^dic  class,  and  these  enjoy  to  the  present  day  the 
emoluments  and  privileges  attached  to  their  office, 
though  the  Rajas  have  left  off  the  exhilarating  study  of 
the  use  of  weapons.  In  Cochin,  the  office  is  hereditary 
in  the  family  of  PerSmangalatt  Nambutiri  who  is  offici¬ 
ally  styled  Perampattfa  Panikkar.  In  Travancore,  the 
office  is  held  by  Kallamtattil  Kurukal.  The  suffix  Ku- 
rukai  or  Gurukai  means  preceptor.  It  is  said  that,  in 
former  times,  every  Perampatftfa  Panikkar  had  to  vin¬ 
dicate  his  title  to  his  office  by  having  an  open  fight, 
sword  in  hand,  with  a  Royal  Tiger  and,  if  he  succeeded 
in  killing  the  animal,  he  planted,  in  token  of  the  victory, 
a  post  in  the  inner  courtyard  of  his  Illam  (house)* 
It  would  appear  that  some  of  these  posts  are  still  to  be 
seen  standing  in  the  yard  of  his  house. 

The  Nambutirls  form  the  landed  aristocracy  of 
the  country  and  claim  the  land  in  Jen^tam  or  birth¬ 
right,  tracing  their  title  to  an  alleged  original  gift  by 
ParaSu  Rsma*  It  is  only  the  poorest  of  them  >\ho 
will  consent  to  act  as  priests  in’temples.  Those  who 


60  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

are  landlords  do  -not  cultivate  the  lanc^  themselves 
but  let  them  out  to  tenants  mostly  Nsyars  on  various 
tenures.  It  is  seldom  that  they  earn  their  livelihood 
by  personal  exertion.  They  are  such  a  favoured 
class  that,  from  royalty  downward  to  the  merest  pea¬ 
sant,  every  one  would  forego  even  his  necessity  to 
pander  to  their  luxury.  Instead  of  scorning  delights 
and  living  life’s  laborious  days  as  ordained  by  the 
Sanfcara  Smriti ,  they  use  their  utmost  endeavour,  by 
deed  and  word,  to  impress  on  others  the  idea  that  all 
excellences  in  the  world  are  theirs  by  birthright,  and 
that  whatever  is  low  and  mean  is  the  portion  of  the 
lower  orders.  In  fact,  it  is  the  Nambutiri  of  all  Brah- 
mans  in  India,  who  strictly  follows  the  injunction  of 
Manu,  “  never  serve.” 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Nambutiris  asso- 

•  # 

ciated  themselves  with  the  Government  of  the  country 
even  after  they  had  ceased  to  have  any  direct  control 
under  the  early  theocratic  system  of  rule  that  prevailed 
in  Malabar  They  were  the  ministers  of  the  Rajas, 
their  judges  on  the  Bench,  their  generals  in  the  field 
and  above  all  their  spiritual  preceptors.  It  was.  “  the 
King’s  Brahman  and  high  Priest  ”  who  received  Vasco 
de  Gama  at  the  palace  gates  and  conducted  him  to 
the  king’s  presence  at  the  Portuguese  Admiral’s 
first  interview  with  the  Zamorin. 

“  The  patriarch  Brahmin  (soft  and  slow  he  rose) 

Advancing  now,  to  lordly  Gama  bows, 

And  leads  him3  to  the  throne.”1 

On  Della  Vella’s  visit  to  Calicut  in  company,  with 
the  Portuguese  who  were  sent  by  the  Viceroy  to  treat 
with  the  Zamorin,  it  was  “a  prime  Brahman  and  a  man 
of  great  authority  with  the  king,  ”  who,  along  with  the 
king,  discussed  matters  of  high  importance  with  the 
Portuguese  Captain,  and  Della  Vella  informs  us  that  the 
Brahman  told  him  that  he  had  “sometimes  treated  of 

weighty  affairs  on  his  king’s  behalf  with  the  Portugals  in 
1.  In  Lusiad. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  61 

the  enterprise  of  Cognate ,  and  that  he  was  very  well 
known  to  the  Viceroy  and  the  Chief  Captains  of  Goa.” 
We  have  the  assurance  of  Barbosa  that  this  is  no  mere 
boast,  for  he  tells  us  that  “the  kings  used  to  employ 
these  Brahmans  as  messengers  and  ambassadors 
to  go  from  kingdom  to  kingdom,  because  they  pass 
in  safety  in  all  parts  without  any  one  molesting  them, 
though  the  kings  may  be  at  war.”  Till  but  recently  we 
have  had  Nambutiri  SarvSdhikariakars  (Prime  mini¬ 
sters),  KSriakSrs  (Governors),  Judges  and  Munsiffs  in 
Travancore  and  Cochin.  Fifty  years  ago  the  highest 
Courts  of  both  these  States  were  presided  over  by 
Nambutiri  judges.  But  at  present  in  the  public  ser¬ 
vice  the  Nambutiri  is  nowhere.  He  has  not  kept  pace 
with  the  progress  of  modern  times.  His  Smrti  pro¬ 
hibits  the  study  of  the  language  of  the  Miechchss,z.  e ., 
the  unclean  !  Hence  the  Nambutiris  never  study 
English,  with  the  result  that  they  have  already  been 
far  out-stripped  in  the  race  of  progress  by  their  down¬ 
trodden  slaves,  the  Nayars  and  other  classes.  The 
Malabar  Marriage  Commission  reported  that  “instead  , 
of  taking  the  lead  in  every  intellectual  pursuit,  as  do 
the  Brahmans  in  other  parts,  the  Nambutiri  has  be¬ 
come  enervated  to  such  an  extent  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  more  than  a  few  who  have  mastered 
the  Grammar  and  syntax  of  Sanskrit,  which  is  the 
chief  vehicle  of  their  scared  texts.  Most  of  them  get 
no  further  than  committing  a  number  of  Siokas  to 
memory.  Not  only  do  they  refuse  altogether  to  tread 
the  path  of  knowledge  opened  up  to  them  by  a  barbar* 
ian  government,  but  it  is  rare  to  find  one  of  them  who 
has  studied  the  literature,  such  as  it  is,  of  his  own 
vernacular  Malaydam,  his  mother  tongue.  He  des¬ 
pises  Sanskrit,  the  language  in  which  his  sacred  lore  is 
entombed  which  he  has  ceased  to  study.”  There  are 
of  course  those  whp  stoutly  maintain  that  the  Naipbu- 
jiri  is  not  the  degenerate  being  he  is  represented  to  be. 
Mr.  Fawcett,  for  instance*  champions  his  cause  in  this 
wise  ;  “it  will  have  been  seen  thkt  physically  he  is  the 


62  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  z$r 

best  in  the  land  ;  also  that  his  position  among  the 
people  is  loftier  than  that  of  any  other  Brahmans 
in  Southern  India.  Perhaps  it  is  for  his  special  sacred¬ 
ness,  which  is  correlative  with  high  position,  that  the 
priest  of  the  temple  at  BadarySSrama  in  Northern  India, 
as  also  the  priest  of  the  Saiva  temple  at  Thiruvattur  near 
Madras,  is  always  a  Nambutiri.  He  enters  into  none 
of  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  livelihood,  and*  for  that  very 
reason  he  is  able  to  maintain  his  high  position^ and  to 
exercise  influence  for  good  which  is  very  considerable.” 
It  may  be  that  the  people  of  Malabar  accord  to  the 
Nambutiri  a  position  loftier  than  that  of  the  other 
Brahmans  of  Southern  India,  but  that  is  the  inheritance 
of  ages,  and  had  its  origin  at  a  time  when  the  Nambu- 
Jirls  were  both  spiritual  and  temporal  sovereigns  of 
Kerala  and  when  they  never  failed  to  fulfil  their  high 
functions.  No  one  can  doubt  that  the  Nambutiri  is 
fast  losing  ground,  and  that  unless  he  wakes  and 
bestirs  himself,  he  will  soon  be  delegated  to  the  limbo 
of  oblivion.  Haughty  aloofness  can  scarcely  con¬ 
fer  lofty  position,  much  less  special  sacredness,  and 
Mr,  Fawcet  forgets  that  the  priests  of  Badari  and 
Tiruvatfur  are  chosen  from  among  the  Nambutiris,. 
not  because  of  their  “special  sacredness”  or  “high  posi¬ 
tion”,  but  because  the  temple  of  Badari  was  founded  by 
the  Nambutiri,  Sankara  AchSryar,  and  that  the  Tiru- 
vaffur  temple  has  the  reputation  of  having  for  its 
founder  Para$u  Rama,  the  Patron-Saint  of  the  Kerala 
Brahmins.  If  indeed  the  dignity  of  labour  is  discount¬ 
ed  a  good  deal  and  indolence  and  idleness  sanctified, 
the  Naipbupri  may  well  claim  to  have  attained  his  sacred 
position  by  reason  of  his  scorn  to  enter  into  the  ordi¬ 
nary  pursuits  of  life.  The  so-called  Vedic  studies  of 
which  he  is  theoretically  a  life-long  student  and  reposi¬ 
tory  are  at  present  a  matter  of  ancient  history  recorded 
perhaps  in  the  tablets  of  time.  The  modern  Nambu- 
tiri  is  decidedly  a  degenerate  representative  of  his 
illustrious  ancestors.  The  present  economic  condition 
of  the  class  is  thus  well  described  in  the  Travancore 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  63 

Census  Report :  “As  the  pre-historic  heirs  to  the  en¬ 
tire  land  of  Kgraia,  the  Nambutiris  live  on  agriculture* 
But  inefficiency  in  adaptation  to  changing  environ¬ 
ments  operates  as>  a  severe  handicap  in  the  race  for 
progressive  affluence  for  which  the  initial  equipment 
was  exceptionally  favourable.  The  difficulties  inci¬ 
dental  to  an  effete  landlordism  have  contributed  to  mak¬ 
ing  the  Naipbutirls  a  litigious  population  and  the 
ruinous  scale  of  expenditure  necessary  for  the  disposal 
of  a  girl,  be  it  of  the  most  plebian  kind,  has  brought 
their  general  prosperity  to  a  very  low  level.  The 
feeling  of  responsible'  co-operation  on  the  part 
of  the  unmarried  males  of  a  Narnbu{iri  household 
in  the  interests  of  the  family  is  fast  decaying, 
old  maidens  are  increasing  and  the  lot  of  the 
average  Nambutiri  man  and  more  especially  woman, 
is  very  hard  indeed*  As  matters  now  stand,  the 
traditional  hospitality  of  the  Hindu  Kings  of  Mala¬ 
bar  which,  fortunately  for  them,  has  not  yet  relaxed 
is  the  only  sustenance  and  support  of  the  ordin  .  . 
Narnbutiri  Brahmin’51. 

Magic,  and  Sorcery — The  Nambutiris  are  not 
strangers  to  magic  and  sorcery.  Their  practices  in 
this  respect  are  described  elsewhere. 

Manners  and  Customs . — The  Nambutiris  havecer* 

•  • 

tain  customs  or  observances  which  arc  peculiar  to 
them,  and,  so  far  as  they  differ  from  those  of  the  other 
Brahmans  of  India,  are  in  a  body  designated  as  Anam 

char  am  or  mal-observances.  There  are  64  of  them 

•»  ^ 

and  are  supposed  to  have  been  instituted  by  Sankara 
Acharya.  The  Nambutiris  defend  :hem  as  being 
based  on  the  authority  of  the  Smrtis  and  Sastras. 
These  are  set  forth  in  the  fouth  pada  or  part  of  the 
•  r vh  chapter  of  Sankara  Smriti .  They  are  : — 

^1)  You  must  not  clean  ycur  teeth  with  stick-, 

(2)  You  must  not  bathe  with  clothes  worn  on 
oar  person. 

1.  Travancore  Census  Report  for  1901,  p.  302. 


64 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

(3)  You  must  not  rub  your  body  with  the  cloth 
worn  on  your  person. 

(4)  You  must  not  bathe  before  sunrise. 

(5)  You  must  not  cook  your  food  before  you 
bathe. 

(6)  Avoid  the  water  kept  aside  during  the  night. 

(7)  You  must  not  have  one  particular  object  in 
view  while  you  bathe. 

(8)  The  remainder  of  water  taken  for  one  cere¬ 
monial  purpose  must  not  be  made  use  of  for  another 
ceremony. 

(9)  You  must  bathe  if  you  touch  another,  i.  e.,  a 
Sudra. 

(10)  You  must  bathe  if  you  happen  to  approach 
one  of  a  low  caste. 

(n)  you  must  bathe  if  you  touen  polluted  wells 
or  tanks. 

(12)  You  must  not  tread  over  a  place  that  has 
been  cleaned  with  a  broom,  unless  it  is  sprinkled  with 
water. 

(13)  A  particular  mode  of  marking  the  forehead 
with  ashes,  (otherwise  described  :  put  three  horizon¬ 
tal  lines  on  the  forehead  with  pure  burnt  cow  dung). 

(14)  You  must  repeat  charms  (mantrams)  your¬ 
self  (must  not  allow  some  one  else  to  do  it  for  you). 

(15)  You  must  avoid  cold  rice,  &c.  (food  cooked 
the  previous  day). 

(16)  You  must  avoid  leavings  of  meals  by  child¬ 
ren  (or  do  not  eat  food  which  has  been  left  by 
children.) 

(17I  You  must  net  eat  anything  that  has  been 
offered  to  Siva. 

(18)  You  must  not  serve  out  food  with  your 
hands  (must  not  touch  the  food  with  the  hand  when 
serving  it). 

(19)  You  must  not  make  use  of  the  ghee  of  buf¬ 
falo-cows  for  burnt  offerings. 


Introd.l  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  65 

(20)  You  must  not  use  buffalo-milk  or  ghee  for 
funeral  offerings. 

(21)  A  particular  mode  of  taking  food  (not  to 
put  too  much  in  the  mouth,  because  none  must  be 
taken  back). 

(22)  You  must  not  chew  betel  while  you  are  pol¬ 
luted. 

(23)  You  must  observe  the  conclusion  of  the 
BramachSri  period. 

(24)  You  must  give  presents  to  your  guru  or 
preceptor  (the  Brahmachari  must). 

(25)  You  must  not  repeat  the  Vedas  on  the  road. 

(26)  Yon  must  not  sell  women  (receive  money 
for  girls  given  in  marriage). 

(27)  You  must  not  fast  in  order  to  obtain  fulfil¬ 
ment  of  your  desires. 

(28)  Bathing  is  all  that  a  woman  should  observe 
if  she  touches  another  in  her  menses.  (A  woman  touch¬ 
ing  another  who  is  in  this  state  should, it  is  said,  purify 
herself  by  bathing.  A  man  should  change  his  thread 
and  undergo  sacred  ablution). 

(29)  Brahmans  should  not  spin  cotton. 

(•30)  Brahmans  should  not  wash  cloths  for  them¬ 
selves  (should  not  wash  their  own  cloths). 

(31)  K§hatriyas  should  avoid  worshipping  the 
L  ingam. 

(32)  Brahmans  should  not  accept  funeral  gifts 
from  Sudras  (anniversary  gifts  too). 

(33)  Perform  the  anniversary  ceremony  of  your 
father  (father’s  father,  mother’s  father,  and  both  grand¬ 
mothers). 

(34)  Anniversary  ceremonies  should  be  performed 
on  the  day  of  the  new  moon  (for  the  gratification  of  the 
spirits  of  the  deceased). 

(35)  The  funeral  ceremony  should  be  performed 

at  the  end  of  the  year,  counting  from  the  day  of 
death.  I* 


66  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

(36)  The  ceremony  to  be  performed  till  the  end 
of  the  year  after  death  (the  Dlksha:  letting  the 
hair  grow,  apparently). 

(37)  Sraddhas  should  be  performed  with  regard 
to  the  stars. 

(38)  The  funeral  ceremony  should  not  be  per¬ 
formed  until  after  the  pollution  caused  by  a  child-birth 
has  been  removed. 

(39)  A  particular  mode  oh  performing  SrSddha 
by  an  adopted  son  (who  should  do  the  ceremony  for 
his  adopted  parents  as  well  as  for  his  natural  parents). 

(40)  The  corpse  of  a  man  should  be  burnt  in  his 
own  compound  (on  his  own  jenmam  land). 

(41)  Sanyasis  should  not  look  at  (see)  women. 

(42)  Sanyasis  should  renounce  all  worldly 
pleasures. 

(43)  Sraddha  should  not  be  performed  for  de¬ 
ceased  Sanyasis. 

(44)  Brahman  women  must  not  look  at  any 
other  persons  besides  their  own  husbands  (should  not 
be  seen  by  men  out  of  the  family). 

(45)  Brahman  women  must  not  go  out  unless 
accompanied  by  women  servants. 

(46)  Should  wear  only  white  clothing. 

(47)  Noses  should  not  be  pierced.  (Amoiigst 
South  Indian  Brahmans  outside  Malabar  the  noses  of 
women  are  always  bored). 

(48)  Brahmans  should  be  put  out  of  their  caste  if 
they  drink  any  liquor. 

(49)  Brahmans  should  forfeit  their  caste  if  they 
have  intercourse  with  other  Brahman  women  than  their 
wives. 

(50)  The  consecration  of  evil  spirits  should  be 
avoided  (otherwise  said  to  be  that  worship  to  ancestors 
ahould  not  be  done  in  temples). 

(51)  Sudras  and  others  are  not  to  touch  an  idol* 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  67 

(52)  Anything  offered  to  one  god  should  not  be 
offered  to  another. 

(53)  Marriage,  etc.,  should  not  be  done  without  a 
burnt  offering  (h5mam). 

(54)  Brahmans  should  not  give  blessings  to  each 
other. 

(55)  They  should  not  bow  down  to  another 
(should  not  salute  each  other). 

(56)  Cows  should  not  be  killed  in  sacrifice* 

(57)  Do  not  cause  distraction,  some  by  observing 
the  religious  rights  of  Siva,  and  others  those  of  Vishnu* 

(58)  Brahmans  should  wear  only  one  sacred 
thread* 

(59)  The  eldest  son  should  marry  and  enter 
Grahastasramam  (householder’s  life)* 

(60)  Ceremony  in  honour  of  a  deceased  ancestor 
should  be  performed  with  boiled  rice* 

(61)  Kshatriyas  and  those  of  other  castes  should 
perform  funeral  ceremonies  to  their  uncles  (deceased). 

(62)  The  right  of  inheritance  among  Kshatriyas 
goes  towards  nephews. 

(63)  Widows  should  lead  the  lives  of  Sanyasis* 

(64)  Sati  should  be  avoided. 

Dr.  Subrahmania  Ayyar  has  classed  these  64 
anacharams  under  six  heads  : — 

(1)  Personal  hygiene. 

(2)  Eating* 

(3)  Worship  of  the  gods  and  manes. 

(4)  Conduct  in  society. 

(5)  Asramas  or  stages  of  life. 

(6)  And  the  regulation  of  women’s  conduct. 

(1)  Personal  hygiene . — With  the  Nambutiri. 
bathing  is  a  most  important  religious  duty,  which  he 
has  to  perform  by  immersing  himself  in  either  a  tank 
or  a  river.  It  purifies  both  body  and  soul.  The  mere 
touch  of  a  Narxibufiri  by  any  other  class  necessitates 


68  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.20« 

his  taking  a  plunge  bath  to  avoid  the  impurities.  As 
Camoens  observes : — 

“Vile  were  the  stain  and  deep  the  foul  disgrace, 

“Should  other  tribe  touch  one  of  noble  race ; 

“A  thousand  rites,  and  washings  over  and  over 

“Can  scarce  his  tainted  purity  restore/’ 

The  Nambutiris  have  therefore  a  large  tank  or 
reservoir  of  water  attached  always  to  their  houses. 
Every  Nambutiri  bathes  in  this  tank  twice  a  day  at 
least,  and  oftener  sometimes.  As  in  everything  else, 
there  are  special  rules  laid  down  regarding  the 
bath  in  the  Sankara  Smriti. 1  According  to  it,  the 
Smritis  prescribe  four  kinds  of  bath,  viz  ,  (i)  BrSh- 
mam,  the  sprinkling  of  water  (on  a  man)  on  which 
mantras  have  been  uttered;  (2)  Vsyavyam,  the  applica¬ 
tion  of  the  dust  taken  from  the  hoof  of  a  cow;  (3) 
Agneyam,  the  wearing  of  sacred  ashes;  and  (4)  Vsru- 
11am,  the  immersing  of  oneself  in  water.  Of  these,  a 
combination  of  the  first  with  the  last  is  ordained  to  the 
Nambutiri  i.e>  one  should  enter  water,  dip  himself  in  it 
and  at  the  same  time  sprinkle  himself  with  water  on 
which  the  prescribed  mantras  have  been  duly  muttered. 
It  would  be  tedious  to  go  into  details  of  the  rules 
which  prescribe  how  to  dip  oneself,  how  many  times  to 
dip,  etc.  But  a  Nambutiri  should  never  bathe  before 
sunrise. 

The  prohibition  from  entering  water  with  the  cover¬ 
ing  waist-cloth  on  does  not  really  run  counter  to  the  in¬ 
junction  of  the  Sutrakaras  who  say,  “bathe  not  without 
clothing,”  for  the  Nambutiri  bathes  with  his  langot , 
or  undercloth  passing  between  his  thighs  and  covering 
his  private  parts.  More  clothing  is  indeed  desirable. 
As  observed  by  Dr.  Subrahmania  Ayyar:  “The  fasti¬ 
dious  sense  of  bath  purity  occasionally  takes  the  form 
of  a  regular  mania,  and  receives  the  not  in-apt  descri¬ 
ption  of  JalapisSch,  or  possession  by  a  water-devil 
which  would  perpetually  raise  doubts  as  to  whether 

1,  Chapter  4,  pada  1, 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  69 

the  required  degree  of  personal  purity  has  been 
secured  by  the  bath  in  question”. 

(2)  Eatings — The  rules  regarding  this  have  been 
already  noticed. 

(3)  Worship  of  the  gods ,  etc . — The  mode  of  wor¬ 
shipping  the  gods  and  prayers  for  the  souls  of  depart¬ 
ed  form  the  third  group  of  Keraischaras.  The  anni¬ 
versary  of  a  person's  death  is  regulated  not  by  the  age 
of  the  moon  at  the  time,  but  by  the  star,  which  is 
-unlike  the  practice  on  the  other  coast.  Again  a 
birth-pollution  has  the  priority  of  observances  over 
even  funeral  duties.  A  son  who  has  to  perform  the 
funeral  ceremonies  of  his  father  is  rendered  unfit  for 
that  solemn  function  by  an  intervening  birth-pollution. 
An  adopted  son  in  Malabar  is  not,  as 'in  other  parts  of 
India,  relieved  of  the  Sraddha  obligations  to  his 
natural  parents.  Sectarian  controversies  in  regard  to 
Siva  and  Vishnu  are  strictly  tabooed.  The  establish¬ 
ment  of  Hinduism  on  a  non-sectarian  basis  was  the 
sacred  mission  of  Sankara’s  life. 

A  single  triple  string  (sacred  thread)  is  worn 
irrespective  of  civil  conditions.  This  is  contrary  to  the 
usage  of  the  other  coast,  where  married  Brahmans 
wear  two  or  three  triplets.  Sprinkling  with  water  is 
an  essential  purificatory  act  after  the  use  of  broom.  An 
isolated  rule  requires  dead  bodies  to  be  burned  in 
private  compounds,  and  not  in  consecrated  communal 
sites,  as  among  the  East  Coast  people.1 

(4)  Conduct  in  society . — Chastity  is  jealously 
guarded  by  the  imposition  of  severe  ostracism  on  adul¬ 
terers.  Formal  salutation  and  even  Namaskaras  and 
Anugrahas  or  prostration  before  ’and  blessing  by, 
seniors  are  proscribed.  This  is  a  striking  point  of 
difference  between  Malabar  and  the  rest  of  India,  and 
is  probably  based  on  the  esoteric  teaching  of  univer¬ 
sal  oneness.2 

(5)  Regulation  of  woman  s  conduct . — These  are 

described  later  on. 

1.  Trayamcore  Census  Report ^Vol,  i,  p.  304. 

2.  Ibid  p.  304,  para  4. 


70  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

(6)  Asramas . — Of  the  four  ASramas  prescribed  for 
the  Brahmans,  the  Nambutirls  follow  at  present  three 
only.  Even  these  three  all  Nambufirls  do  not 
observe.  The  really  orthodox  among  them  go  through 
the  three  stages  of  Brahmachari,  ue .,  the  period  during 
which  they  are  engaged  in  the  study  of  the  Vedas, 
Gfhasta,  u  e .,  life  as  a  householder  or  married  man. 
Sanyasi,  i.  e .,  life  as  an  ascetic.  The  third  stage  that 
of  Vanapfasta,  i,  e .,  life  as  a  religious  recluse  retiring 
into  the  forest  is  not  practised  at  present. 

(a)  B  rah  mac  h  ary  a.- — The  period  of  study  begins 
soon  after  the  Upanayana  or  the  investiture  with  the 
sacred  thread.  The  student  should  live  with  the  pre¬ 
ceptor  in  the  house  of  the  latter.  With  the  consent  of 
the  preceptor,  at  an  auspicious  moment,  after  performing 
Prarambha  Homam,  initiatory  sacrifice,  the  student 
must  begin  his  studies  meditating  on  the  syllable  Om! 
Pranavam  and  Gayatri.  The  preceptor  should  teach 
the  student  the  pharma  Sastras  in  the  beginning,  lest, 
not  knowing  the  correct  way  of  performing  ablutions, 
he  may  go  wrong,  and  thus  be  put  out  of  caste. 
Various  rules  are  prescribed  for  the  guidance  of  the 
,  student,  by  which  he  is  enjoined  to  render  absolute 
and  unquestioning  obedience  to  his  Guru,  to  serve  him 
whole-heartedly,  to  minister  to  all  his  wants  and  desires, 
and  so  to  conduct  himself  as  to  deserve  the  blessings 
of  his  preceptor.  He  is  to  study  till  mid-day.  His 
regimen  is  regulated  with  strict  regard  to  extreme 
abstemiousness.  He  is  enjoined  not  to  be  idle,  to  be 
absolutely  truthful  in  deed  and  word,  to  abstain  from 
causing  injury  to  any  living  being.  His  studies  are 
not  to  be  confined  to  the  Vedas  alone.  They  are  to 
extend  to  other  branches  of  knowledge,  such  as  gram¬ 
mar,  logic,  astronomy,  etc.  The  three  Vedas,  Rk, 
Yajus  and  Sama,  he  ought  to  study. 

Besides  studying  under  the  guidance  of  private 
instructors  or  Otikkans,  there  are  public  institutions 
at  which  the  Vedas  are  taught.  There  are  at  present 
two  such  in  Malabar,  one  at  Trichur,  and  the  other  at 
Tiruftavay,  both  of  which  are  richly  endowed,  besides 


THE  VEDIC  COLLEGE  IN  TRICHUR.  (  To  face  p.  70 . 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  71 

the  one  at  Tirunakkara  in  Kottayam  maintained  by 
the  Travancore  Sirkar.  These  Vedic  Colleges  01 
Brahmaswam  mathams  are  presided  over  by  VadhySns, 
or  teachers  chosen  from  the  ChSngaliot  and  Erakara 
houses  ( Illams )  respectively.  At  these  institutions 
the  pupils  are  fed  and  lodged  free  of  cost,  and  given 
oral  instructions  in  the  Vedas,  Ssstras,  etc.  The 
method  of  study  pursued  is  such  that  the  pupils  and 
teachers  look  more  to  the  sharpening  of  the  power  of 
retentiveness  than  to  the  understanding  of  the  subjects 
studied.  Competitive  examinations  are  occasionally 
held  between  the  pupils  of  the  two  institutions, 
which  are  feats  of  intellectual  gymnastics,  serving 
more  to  test  the  memory  of  the  pupils  than  their  know¬ 
ledge  of  the  subject.  They  are  made  to  repeat  at  ran¬ 
dom  select  portions  from  the  Vedas  which  they  have  to 
do  from  beginning  to  end  or  vice  versa ,  the  candidates 
being  in  the  meanwhile  unmercifully  badgered  and 
interrupted  by  a  batch  of  young  men  who  take  a  special 
delight  in  thwarting  the  endeavours  of  the  candidates 
to  go  through  the  passages  correctly.  Those  who  are 
able  to  withstand  this  badgering,  and  succeed  in  repeat¬ 
ing  with  exactitute  the  portions  assigned  to  them  are 
held  in  high  estimation.  Katavallur  temple,  in  the  Tala- 
piily  Taluk  in  the  Cochin  State,  is  the  place  for  these 
competitive  examinations,  and  the  Katafinirikkal  is 
considered  the  blue  ribbon  of  vedic  studies.  There  are 

9 

certain  other  festive  occasions  designed  specially  to  pro¬ 
mote  the  study  of  the  Vedas.  These  are  the  Ottuttu, 
Trsandha,  Panchasandha,  and  Vraam  at  which  the 
Vedas  are  repeated  three  or  five  times  by  experts  for  a 
number  of  days  together,  or  a  single  day,  which  are 
occasions  of  feasting  on  a  grand  scale. 

After  the  period  of  study  is  over,  the  pupil  makes 
the  Gurudekshi^a  or  present  to  his  preceptor,  receives 
his  blessing,  and  returns  home. 

The  next  ASramam  is  that  of  Gj*has{a  (married  life). 
But  in  Malabar  it  is  not  all  that  lead  this  life.  Only  the 
eldest  son  need  marry  or  ought  to  marry.  The  rest  are 


n  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [ L.  20. 

expected  to  lead  a  cilebate  life,  snatakavrtti.  This,  as 

we  have  already  observed,  is  with  a  view  to  secure  the 

impartiality  of  the  family  property.  If,  however,  the 

married  member  has  not  begotten  male  issue,  or  if  it  is 

evident  that  his  wife  is  past  bearing,  the  next  brother 

may  marry.  To  avoid  this,  the  Nambutiri  marries  a 

number  of  wives  in  succession.  If  it  is  objected  that 

every  Hindu  is  bound  to  get  married,  and  that  the 

Smritis  are  very  clear  that  no  one  who  has  not  begotten 

male  issue  has  fulfilled  the  purpose  of  creation,  and 

discharged  his  debt  to  the  Pitrus,  the  Nambutiri  is 

ready  with  his'  answer.  Manu  has  dclared  that  “  if, 

of  several  brothers,  one  procreates  a  son,  that  son 

is  son  to  all.”  But  he  need  not  take  shelter  under  this 

doctrine  of  Manu,  for  the  Smrities  and  Pur  anas  have 

% 

themselves  declared  that  the  unmarried,  whether  males 
or  females,  are  entitled  to  higher  heavens  than  the  mar¬ 
ried — only  they  should  lead  a  celibate  and  chaste  life.1 

. 

Now  the  younger  members  who  do  not  marry,  and 
are  supposed  to  lead  a  life  of  celibacy,  are  for  a  year  or 
two  to  stay  in  their  family  temples  meditating  and 
worshipping.  During  this  period,  they  are  to  revise 
the  study  of  the  Vedas  and  try  to  attain  agility  in 
their  repetition  from  any  point  indicated,  ta  become 
experts  in  Kramam,  Jata,  Ratha,  etc.,  i,  <?.  various 
permutations  and  combinations  of  words,  sentences 
and  verses  from  the  Vedas.  They  are  also  to  study 
the  Vedangas.  Having  finished  this  course,  they  re¬ 
move  themselves  to  the  Gramakshetrams,  L  €.*  the  vil- 
lage  temples,  which  are  endowed  for  the  purpose, 
giving  board  and  lodging  to  students  of  the  village  that 
resort  to  them.  There  they  continue  their  studies  for 
a  period  of  two  or  three  years  more.  Then  and  then 
only  are  these  Nambutirls  considered  fit  to  take 
their  place  in  assemblies  of  the  learned.  ‘  So  far  they 
have  studied  only  the  Vedas  and  Vedangas.  They 
have  now  to  proceed  to  other  branches  of  knowledge* 
i.  Manu,  2,  243-244  and  289;  8,363.  Vishnu,  28— 47-p. 
113  (Cal.  Ed.).  Yagnavalkya,  Chap.  1,  50  p.  414  (Cal.  Ed.) 
Sri  Bhagavat,  2 — 6 — 18. 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


73 


For  this  purpose,  they  resort  to  Sabhs-Mathams  or 
endowed  institutions,  where  students  are  lodged,  main¬ 
tained  and  taught  SSstras,  Grammar,  Astronomy, 
Astrology,  Mlmsmsa,  Vedanta  (Philosophy  and  Phi¬ 
losophic  theology).  There  were  18  of  these  institutions 
in  Malabar,  each  being  supplied  with  pandits,  who  are 
masters  of  Sanskrit  lore,  capable  of  imparting  it  to 
others,  and  are  styled  BhattatirTs.  At  these  Sabhs-Math- 
ams,  those  students  who  seek  to  learn  Tantra  SSstra, 
Yoga  Ssstra,  rituals  at  sacrifices  etc.,  are  taught  free 
of  all  expenses.  The  BhattatirTs  themselves  will  have 
passed  a  course  of  twelve  years’  study  at  these  insti¬ 
tutions  before  they  are  installed  as  teachers.  By  un¬ 
dertaking  the  course  of  studies  sketched  above,  the 
Nambutirls  have  been  ever  known  as  great  scholars. 
Confining  themselves  throughout  their  life  to  intellect¬ 
ual  pursuits,  they  used  to  attain  a  high  level  of 
scholarship.  The  Rajas  of  Malabar  used  to  give  them 
opportunities  to  display  their  scholarly  attainments. 
Annually,  assemblies  of  the  learned  were  held  at  their 
courts,  where  disputations  were  held  in  logic  and  other 
subjects,  and  those  who  came  out  well  were  honour¬ 
ed  with  costly  presents.  The  Zamorins  of  Calicut  used 
to  hold  Tanams  at  Taii.  These  were  gifts  to  the 
learned  on  the  occasion  of  the  SrSddha  ceremony 
of  a  deceased  ancestor.  Seven  days  before  the  cere¬ 
mony,  the  learned  gather  at  Taii,  one  of  the  suburbs 
of  Calicut,  and  display  their  learning  at  the  assembly 
in  the  presence  of  the  Zamorin.  The  subjects  taken 
up  for  the  test  are  Grammar,  MlmSmsa  and  VedSnta. 
Those  who  are  accepted  as  proficients  deserving 
reward  hold  their  place  for  a  period  of  12  years 
during  which  they  get  their  annual  presents.  Those 
who  vacate  their  seats  on  the  expiry  of  their  period  are 
replaced  by  new  comers.  At  the  courts  of  Travancore 
and  Cochin  also  such  assemblies  of  the  learned  a*re  still 
held  on  various  occasions.  But  the  importance  of  the 
assemblies  has  become  attenuated,  the  test  at  present 
is  nominal,  scholars  attending  are  few  and  of  mediocre 

J. 


74  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [U  *o. 

attainments,  the  inducements  offered  are  meagre,  and 
the  whole  thing  has  come  to  be  a  mere  show,  a  faint 
shadow  of  a  once  brilliant  institution— a  mere  relic  of 
the  past.  The  community  has  produced  distinguished 
scholars  and  authors,  such  as  Meppattur  Bhattatiri, 
Bhattatiris  of  Payyur  Illam,  Kskkasseri  Bbattapri, 
Mullappiliy  Bhattatiri,  Chennoss  Narayanan  Nampu- 
pripsd,  and  others.  But  times  have  changed,  and  at 
present,  the  Nambutiris,  instead  of  sticking  to  their 
traditional  profession  of  study,  idle  away  their  time  in 
litigation  consequent  upon  the  oppression  they  practise 
on  their  rack-rented  tenants.  They  have  left  off  their 
traditional  moorings  and  are  after  modern  fashions  and 
tendencies.  That  they  may  maintain  their  culture  and 
look  to  ideals  consistent  with  it  is  the  prayer  of  the 
well-wishers  of  that  great  community. 

Grihasta-Asrcima . — This  is  the  married  life  of  a 
householder.  The  eldest  son  of  the  house  alone,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  marries.  With  the  Brahmans, 
marriage  is  a  sacrament  and  a  holy  sacrament  too.  Of 
the  eight  forms  of  marriage  described  by  the  Smjrps, 
the  Nambutiris  follow  the  Prajspatya  form,  in  which 
the  father  gives  away  his  daughter  with  due  honour, 
saying  distinctly  ‘‘  may  both  of  you  perform  together 
your  civil  and  religious  duties.”  The  father  of  the 
girl  should  in  proper  time  get  his  daughter  married, 
and  he  who  desires  to  marry  should  also  look  about  for 
a  proper  match.  The  rule  as  to  the  age  of  the  bride  is 
thus  set  forth  in  the  Sankara  Smrti.  “  One  may 
marry  a  Kanya,  Rohini  and  Gouri,  but  not  a  Madhya- 
ma.  ”  A  Kanya  is  a  girl  of  io  years,  Rohirii  of  9  years 
and  Gouri  of  8  years  of  age.  A  Madhyama  is  one  who 
has  attained  her  puberty.  BhSrgava  has,  however,  as 
a  matter  of  sufferance,  allowed. the  marriage  of  a  girl 
after  puberty.  The  rule  is  that,  by  whatever  means, 
one  should  get  one’s  daughter  married  before  puberty.1 
Otherwise  one  incurs  Bhrunahapyapcipam,  t*  e.>  the 
sin  of  killing  a  child  in  the  womb.2  In  practice,  the 

1.  SI.  32,  part  1,  chap:  6. 

2,  SI.  30,  part  1,  chap:  6. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


75 


In  trod  J 

majority  of  marriages  are  performed  after  puberty,  so 
much  so,  that  it  has  come  to  be  the  rule  rather  than  an 
exception.  Thus  the  large  majority  of  the  married 
Nambuprls  of  the  present  day  are  open  to  the  charge 
of  having  committed  the  sin  of  Bhrunahattya.  The 
father  of  the  bride  and  of  the  bridegroom  are  required 
to  make  themselves  sure  of  the  position  in  life  and  per¬ 
sonal  qualities  of  the  parties.  The  wishes  of  the  couple 
are  seldom,  if  ever,  consulted.  As  it  is,  the  desire  to 
get  rid  of  a  girl  with  a  cheap  dowry  induces  fathers  to 
make  rather  short  work  of  making  such  enquiries  as 
are  contemplated  by  the  Sankara  Smrti.  Marriage  is  now 
a  matter  of  bargain  and  exchange — a  daughter  with 
a  small  dowry,  or  a  daughter  for  a  daughter.  Certain 
rules  are  laid  down  by  the  Sankara  Smrti1  for  testing 
personal  qualities  of  the  bride  and  bridegroom.  The 
bride  should  be  clean  at  everything,  of  good  behaviour, 
of  pleasant  conversation,  handsome,  having  brothers. 
She  should  not  be  of  the  same  Gotra  (sect)  or  be  a 
Sapujdi  (i.  e,  an  agnate).  She  should  not  be  cruel- 
hearted,  lame  or  maimed,  or  have  abnormal  limbs, 
without  hair  on  her  body,  or  be  very  hairy,  of  a  talk¬ 
ative  nature,  or  one  accustomed  to  be  always  looking 
out  through  the  window.  She  should  be  handsome 
and  fair,  emitting  a  good  odour,  accustomed  to  smile 
turning  her  head  a  little,  should  have  high  and  full 
bosom,  and  be  of  good  temper.  A  rather  curious  and 
amusing  test  is  then  prescribed,  called  Mrt-Pirida- 
Parjk§ha,  or  the  test  by  earth  balls.  A  large  square 
is  formed  with  small  squares  within  by  means  of  paral¬ 
lel  lines  drawn  lengthwise  and  crosswise.  Within 
these  small  inner  squares,  are  put  powders  of  different 
colours. 

After  worshipping  the  gods,  place  in  the  first  row, 
in  the  order  prescribed,  clods  of  earth,  formed  into 
balls,  taken  from  a  cow-pen,  a  place  where  ySgom  (sacri¬ 
fice)  has  been  formed,  a  river  bed,  and  a  pagoda.  In 
the  line  below  place  similarly  other  balls  of  earth 
i  Chap.  II,  Parts  3  and  4, 


76  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

obtained  from  where  four  roads  cross  each  other, 
brackish  soil,  land  scoured  (ploughed)  by  a  boar  with 
its  tusk,  and  gravelly  soil.  Then  mutter  some  mantras 
over  these,  and  ask  the  girl  to  take  from  among  these 
one  ball  of  earth.  The  girl  should  circumambulate 
the  square  thrice  and  make  her  selection.  How  she 
should  fare  in  her  married  life  may  be  determined  from 
the  selection  she  makes.  If  she  chooses  the  ball  of 
earth  taken  from  the  cow-pen,  the  couple  will  have  a 
number  of  cows  in  the  course  of  their  married  life.  If 
she  selects  the  earth  taken  from  the  sacrificial  ground, 
she  will  be  a  Dharmavafi,  one  leading  a  devotional  life. 
If  she  takes  the  river  sand,  you  may  be  certain  that  she 
is  good  hearted.  If  her  choice  falls  on  the  earth  taken 
from  a  pagodal,  she  is  sure  to  be  prosperous  and 
wealthy.  The  choice  of  any  one  of  the  above  may  be 
considered  as  indicating  that  she  would  be  chaste  and 
pure.  But  if  she  has  her  choice  from  the  second  line,  it 
bodes  no  good.  The  selection  of  the  clod  of  earth  taken 
from  where  four  roads  cross  one  another  indicates  that 
she  would  lead  a  vagabond  life,  that  of  the  brackish 
soil  shows  that  she  is  cruel,  that  of  the  ground  plough¬ 
ed  by  a  boar’s  tusk  is  indicative  of  her  false  character, 
and  that  of  the  gravelly  soil  forbodes  that  she  will 
compass  the  death  of  her  husband. 

The  bride’s  father  has  also  to  satisfy  himself 
as  to  the  personal  qualities  of  his  future  son-in-law. 
Sixteen  classes  of  persons  are  described  as  impotents 
or  as  hermaphrodites  and  therefore  not  eligible  for 
marriage.  Another  set  declared  ineligible  is  com¬ 
posed  ^f  those  who  are  insane,  dumb,  deaf,  limp¬ 
ing,  lame,  blind,  epileptic,  not  of  noble  birth,  one  who 
has  overstayed  the  auspicious  hour  for  the  marriage 
ceremony,  one  who  has  cut  off  his  tuft  of  hair 
(Kudummi),  and  one  whom  the  bride  hates.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  circumstances  require  the  special  attention  of 
the  bride’s  father  with  regard  to  the  bridegroom:  — 

(1)  Fully  developed  manhood. 

(2)  Youthfulness-adolesence. 


introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  7? 

(3)  Beauty. 

(4)  Wealth. 

(5)  Learning  or  celebrity. 

(6)  Agreeable  conversation. 

(7)  Charitable  disposition  especially  in  the 
matter  of  giving  food  to  others. 

When  the  parties  are  satisfied  with  the  choice 
they  have  made,  they  should  consult  a  learned  astrolo¬ 
ger,  who  is  interested  in  both  of  them  equally,  who  is 
innocent  and  not  avaricious.  He  should  examine  the 
horoscopes,  and  find  out  the  conjunctions  or  favourable 
symptoms  of  the  intended  match.  (There  are  28  con¬ 
junctions  of  which  8  are  indispensable).  The  agree¬ 
ment  of  the  nativities  (Rasi),  of  week  days  (Dinam), 
of  planets  (Nakshatraip) ,  of  descent  (Ganam),  etc., 
between  the  couple  is  indispensable.  If  these  agree, 
the  marriage  is  determined  upon,  and  an  auspicious 
moment  for  the  ceremony  is  appointed  by  the  astro¬ 
loger. 

A  few  days  previous  to  the  ceremony,  what  is 
known  as  Udvaha  Koutukam  is  performed,  said  to  be 
the  Velippattu  of  the  present  day. 

The  bride’s  father  should  then  prepare  for  the 
ceremony  in  a  style  befitting  his  position  in  life.  He 
should  put  up  sheds  for  the  reception  of  guests,  give 
the  house  a  bright  appearance  by  decorating  it  in 
many  ways;  fumigate  the  building,  Walls,  pillars,  doors, 
narrow  passages,  etc.,  with  sweet  smelling  things,  and 
adorn  them  with  figures  drawn  in  rice-flour-paste. 
He  should  hang  garlands  of  flowers  at  the  gate 
and  at  the  thresh-hold,  set  up  plantain  trees  with  gay 
looking  bunches  of  fruits.  The  posts  on  each  side  of 
the  main  door  should  be  decorated  by  tying  on  them 
the  tender  leaves  of  the  banyan  and  mango  tree,  as 
well  as  cocoanuts  and  arecanuts.  The  house  should 
be  beautified  by  hanging  ail  round  garlands  of  lotus 
flower  and  the  flower  of  the  water-lily. 

The  father  is  then  enjoined  to  prepare  everything 
that  the  bride  wants,  apparently  household  articles  and 


78  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

other  things  she  may  want  to  take  with  her  to  her  new 
home.  A  rich  father  should  give  as  much  wealth  as  the 
bridegroom  desires,  and  an  indigent  one  should  get  as 
much  as  he  can  get  by  begging,  and  bestow  it  on  his 
daughter.1  So  at  present,  a  good  deal  of  bargaining  goes 
on  before  the  match  is  settled,  and  the  sum  generally 
fixed  is  Rs.  2,000.  Sometimes  a  higher  sum  has  to  be 
found,  and  the  bride’s  parents  have  often  to  go  on  an 
extended  begging  tour  to  find  the  amount.  As  a  result 
of  the  present  practice,  we  see  old  maids  pining  away 
without  any  prospect  of  marriage,  while  those  professed 
Benedicts,  the  junior  male  members  of  the  family,  con¬ 
sort  with  Nayar  women,  forming  fugitive  alliances  with 
them.  In  former  days  the  native  Rajas  seem  to  have 
interfered,  and  fixed  the  dowry  payable  at  a  low  rate, 
and  the  marriage  of  the  Nambutiri  girls  was  more 
general  than  at  present.  But  progressive  ideas  scoff  at 
Government’s  interfering  with  the  liberty  of  private 
individuals,  with  the  result  that  society  is  very  often 
scandalised  by  unmarried  Nambutiri  women  going 
astray,  and  a  number  of  men  put  out  of  caste  irrespective 
of  their  innocence  or  guilt,  simply  because  they  are 
accused  of  complicity,  by  the  peccant  woman. 

After  all  arrangements  in  the  house  are  completed, 
the  bride’s  father  should  await  the  arrival  of  the  bride¬ 
groom  and  party,  praying  God  that  the  ceremony  may 
pass  off  satisfactorily.  Meanwhile  the  relatives  and 
guests  invited  for  the  ceremony  assemble  at  the  bride¬ 
groom’s  house  and  are  sumptuously  feasted  at  the  expense 
of  the  bride’s  father.  This  feast  is  called  AyaniUnu.The 
bridegroom  then  leaves  his  house  (receiving  the  bene¬ 
diction  of  his  elders)  accompanied  by  his  relatives  and 
attendants,  and  goes  yti  procession  to  the  bride’s  house. 
Before  leaving  the  house,  he  should  circumambulate  a 
cow,  a  bull,  a  temple  and  a  holy  tree,  repeating  mangaia- 
suk{am,  or  according  to  Bodhgyana  Grhya  Sufra, 
Swasfi  Suktam.  If  he  meets  on  the  road  as  omen 
the  bird  cnculus>  a  cat,  a  dog,  or  an  ass,  he  should 

x*  £1,  31,  part  1,  chap.  6, 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  79 

pass  by  the  left  of  these.  If  he  meets  with  bad  animals 
or  birds  such  as  a  fox,  a  monkey,  a  mangoose,  or  an 
eagle,  he  should  repeat  certain  expiatory  manffas  and 
give  away  danams  or  gifts.  As  the  auspicious  moment 
for  the  actual  ceremony  approaches,  the  party  should 
reach  the  house.  The  bridegroom  walks  behind  the 
long  procession  with  a  consecrated  string  tied  round 
his  waist,  and  with  the  tali  or  wedding  necklace,  a 
mirror  as  an  omen  of  good  luck,  an  arrow  for  guard¬ 
ing  the  bride  against  evil  spirits,  two  pairs  of  cloths, 
and  a  bamboo  stick  with  16  joints,  in  his  hand.  The 
bride’s  father  meets  the  party  at  the  gate  with  greet¬ 
ings.  Nayar  women  represent  the  Nambutiri  ladies 
of  the  house,  who  are  prohibited  from  appearing  in 
public.  On  the  invitation  of  the  bride’s  father,  the 
bridegroom  should  step  into  the  compound,  stretch¬ 
ing  forward  his  left  leg  first,  and  then  walk  up  to  the 
yard,  enter  the  same  stretching  forward  his  right  leg 
first.  Having  come  to  the  threshold,  he  should  step 
into  the  outer  verandah  by  stretching  forward  his  left' 
leg  first,  and  enter  the  Nalukettu  (the  inner  precincts), 
putting  forward  his  right  leg  first.  He  who  wishes  for 
the  prosperity  of  the  house  should  conform  to  these 
rules  without  fail.  After  this,  the  bride’s  father  should 
make  a  gift  of  the  girl,  with  water,  to  him  who  has 
come  seeking  her  hand,  according  to  the  rules  pres¬ 
cribed  by  his  Grhya  Sutra  and  the  bridegroom  should 
accept  the  gift  with  due  ceremony.  This  ceremony  is 
called  Udakapurvam.  There  are,  however,  other  cere¬ 
monies  preceeding  this  one. 

As  the  bridegroom  enters  the  house,  the  bride’s 
father  formally  invites  him  “to  bathe  and  come  for  wed¬ 
ding.”  The  manes  are  then  propitiated  by  the  Nandi- 
mukham  ceremony,  and  the  house  purified  and  fitted 
for  the  sacred  rite.  Then  with  a  lamp  in  front  of  him, 
the  father  of  the  bride  passes  to  the  central  court¬ 
yard  within  the  house,  and  sits  facing  the  east.  The 
Nayar  attendant  of  the  house  then  waves  an  earthern 
pot  before  him  and  hands  a  garland.  The  father  of 


80  .  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [  L.  20. 

the  bride,  who  is  about  to  make  Kanyaksdsnam 
(gift  of  the  girl),  the  most  meritorious  of  all  dunams  or 
gifts,  duly  slautes  the  donee,  i.  e.,  the  bridegroom, 
touches  the  head  of  the  donor  (father-in-law-elect)  as 
if  by  way  of  blessing.  The  bride’s  father  then  walks 
to  the  Homakundaor  the  sacrificial  altar  in  the  interior, 
and  a  few  preliminary  rites  are  gone  through.  At 
the  auspicious  hour,  the  girl  gets  duly  bedecked  and 
has  the  tali'  brought  by  the  husband  tied  round  her 
neck  by  the  father  and  not  by  the  husband  as  in  all 
other  tali-tying  communities  on  the  East  Coast.  A 
Nsyar  woman  waves  a  saucer  of  oil  with  several  burn¬ 
ing  wicks,  known  as  thousand  wicks  (Ayiraftiri) 
before  the  bride,  who  appears  with  her  face  covered. 
With  the  Nayar  woman  and  her  panlight  in  front,  the 
bride  now  walks  on  to  the  altar.  It  may  be  said  in 
passing  that  the  ghosha  ladies  witness  the  ceremonies 
from  behind  a  pardah  , but  they  join  the  Nayar  women, 
at  all  stages  of  the  ceremony  in  the  peculiar  national 
cheering,  known  as  VSykkila  or  Kurava.  The  next 
stage  of  the  ceremony  is  called  Mukhadarsanam,  or 
the  actual  seeing  of  each  other,  fac^  to  face,  of 'the 
husband  and  wife,  when  v€dic  hymns  are  sung;  after 
this  ceremony,  the  bride’s  father  pours,  through  her 
hands,  into  those  of  the  bridegroom,  some  water  accom¬ 
panied  by  the  words  “sahadharmam  charatah”,  meaning 
‘may  you  both  tread  the  path  of  duty  together’,  repeat¬ 
ed  three  times.  This  is  the  Udakapurvam  ceremony. 

The  next  ceremony  is  the  PSnigrahanam  or  the 
clasping  of  hands.  The  bridegroom  clasps  the  right 
hand  of  the  bride.  In  doing  so,  he  should  hold  the  four 
fingers  leaving  alone  the  big  finger,  having  in  his  mind 
the  desire  to  have  male  issue  by  her.  If  he  desires  to 
have  daughters  also,  he  should  clasp  all  the  five  fingers 
of  the  right  hand.  Upon  this,  the  assembled  BrShmans 
bestow  their  benedictions  on  the  happay  couple.  Then 
conies  the  Lajahomam,  or  the  oblation  of  fried  grains, 
and  circumambulations  of  the  sacrificial  fire.  After 
this,  the  bride  is  mounted  on  a  grinding  stone,  and  she 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


81 


Introd.] 

is  exhorted  to  be  as  fast-fixed  in  constancy  as  the 
stone  on  which  her  husband  has  placed  her  legs.  This 
ceremony  is  called  AsmSrohanam.  The  Sapfapadi,  an 
all-important  ceremony  with  other  Brahmans,  in  fact 
the  ceremony  which  accomplishes  and  effects  the  union, 
is  of  minor  import  with  the  Nambutirls.  It  consists 
in  the  walking  of  seven  paces.  This  terminates  the 
more  important  ceremonies  connected  with  marriage 
(Mai :  Penkota  i.  e.,  the  giving  away  of  a  girl). 

Then  follows  the  Kutipukal  or  the  taking  of  the 
bride  to  the  bridegrooms’s  house.  The  sacrificial  fire 
lighted  at  the  marriage  ceremony,  known  as 
OupSsanagni  is  carried  from  the  wife’s  house  to  the 
husband’s  where  it  is  maintained  till  it  is  used  to  light 
the  funeral  pyre  of  the  couple  at  their  death.  This  fire 
is  produced  by  the  friction  of  two  pieces  of  wood. 
Before  the  parties  leave  the  house,  the  fire  is  transferred 
to  a  Ch  mata,  piece  of  wood,  which  is  heated  in  it. 
The  party  now  proceeds  to  the  wife’s  house,  where  the 
next  three  da\s?  ceremonies  have  to  be  performed.  If 
the  journey  is  by  land,  the  wife  should  be  taken  in  a 
palkee  borne  by  Pallichch^ns  (a  class  of  NSyar  bearers). 
Friends  and  relatives  should  accompany  the  party. 
Armed  attendants  with  swords  and  shields  should  walk 
in  front.  Attendant  maids  should  walk  on  either  side 
of  the  palanquin.  Njyars  should  keep  guard  all  round^ 
so  that  the  lower  classes  may  not  approach  and  pollute 
the  procession,  which  should  be  accompanied  with 
music  and  tom-toms.  When  the  procession  passes  by 
sacred  places  or  where  four  roads  meet  etc.,  mantras 
should  be  repeated.  If  it  has  to  stop  on  the  way,  those 
who  come  to  meet  the  party  should  be  received  and 
entertained  with  honour-  It  should  avoid  fire  places. 
On  approaching  the  husband’s  house,  the  way  from  the 
gate  of  the  Illam  to  the  interior  court-yard  should  be 
spread  with  Karuka  (grass),  and  Tair  (curds)  etc. 
A  lamp,  well-lighted,  and  a  measure  of  rice  and  paddy 
each,  should  also  be  placed  in  the  yard.  Nsyar  women 
should  meet  the  party  as  it  enters  with  A§htamangallyam, 

K. 


82  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

i.  e ,  saucers  with  eight  things  in  them.  The  entry 
should  be  made  at  an  auspicious  moment,  the  husband 
leading  the  wife  by  the  hand  repeating  mantras.  That 
night,  sacrificial  fire  should  be  set  up  according  to  the 
rituals  prescribed  to  the  class  to  which  the  couple 
belongs,  and  maintained  without  failing.  For  the  next 
three  days,  the  couple  observe  fast,  avoiding  the  use  of 
salt;  they  are  forbidden  from  lying  on  cots  and  are 
prohibited  from  doing  any  business.  During  these 
days,  the  guests  should  be  feasted  and  old  couples 
should  be  specially  cared  for.  After  these  three  days  r re 
over,  the  Chaturtha  SnSnam,  or  the  bathing  on  the 
fourth  day,  should  be  performed.  In  the  evening,  the 
couple  anoint  themselves  with  oil,  bathe  and  prepare 
themselves  for  the  Sekam  or  nuptials.  For  the  first 
three  days,  the  married  girl  is  supposed  to  be  given  up 
to  the  gods.  1  The  nuptial  room  is  entered  only  after 
the  VySvadevam  ceremony  at  the  sacrificial  altar.  The 
couple  enter  the  chamber  dressed  in  the  same  clothes 
as  on  the  marriage  day  at  the  invitation  of  the  Nsyar 
woman  who  had  hitherto  the  charge  of  the  girl  from 
her  infancy,  who  stands  at  the  door  and  says  Akattekku 
Elunfteiiam,  i.  e .,  “  your  holiness  may  go  in.’’  In 
some  parts,  it  is  the  VadhySn  or  priest  who  officiates  at 
the  marriage  who  shuts  the  pair  in  the  room..  It  is 
said  that  the  priest  outside  and  the  bridegroom  inside 
following  him  repeat  appropriate  mantras.  There  is, 
however,  no  fixed  rule  as  to  the  day  of  the  consumma¬ 
tion.  If  the  fourth  is  not  an  auspicious  day,  the  fifth 
may  be  made  use  of.  Any  how  till  the  Seka  is  over,  the 
Naipbufiri  cannot  take  part  in  other  ceremonies.  On 
the  fourth  day  of  marriage,  there  is  a  little  ceremony, 
in  which  the  bride  plants  a  jasmine  cutting,  the  import 
of  which  is  not  apparent,  but  it  is  suggested  that 
it  symbolises  the  help  she  has  to  give  her  husband 
in  the  discharge  of  his  religious  duties.  The 
Yajurvedic  Nambutiris  have  another  curious  little  cere¬ 
mony  which,  as  already  observed,  has  given  rise  to  wild 
speculations  regarding  the  origin  of  the  Nambufirl^. 

1.  Cochin  Census  Report ,  p.  139. 


In  trod.’]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  83 

On  the  fifth  day,  before  bathing,  a  few  fish  called 
Mannatta  Kanni,  common  in  South  India,  are  put  into 
a  tub  of  water,  and  the  newly  married  couple,  holding 
each  end  of  the  piece  of  cloth,  play  at  catching  fish — 
ergo  the  Nambutiris  were  originally  fishermen.  Mr. 
Nsgam  Aiya’s  explanation  of  the  ceremony  seems 
to  be  apt.  He  observes  : — 

“  The  same  custom  obtains  among  the  Bodhayana 
Sutrakars  of  the  East  Coast  Brahmins.  The  popular 
and  correct  interpretation  seems  to  be  that  fishes  are 
caught  as  emblems  of  the  fertility  wished  for  by  the 
parties  of  the  union.  Even  otherwise,  it  is  satisfac¬ 
torily  explained  by  the  well-known  fact  that,  in  this 
case,  as  in  others,  the  Brahmins  of  Malabar  retain  with 
them  some  of  the  very  ancient  customs  which  pertained 
to  the  Aryans  in  the  old  country  when  they  left  it, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  flesh  and  fish-eating 
which  undoubtedly  existed  there  though  very  far  back 
in  time.  The  marrying  after  puberty,  the  keeping  of 
the  women's  hair  and  the  putting  on  of  the  sandal  paste 
caste-marks  on  the  fore  head  by  the  widows,  the  wear¬ 
ing  of  white  clothes  among  women  whose  husbands  are. 
alive,  the  marrying  on  Saturdays,  the  fixing  of  a  MuhUr- 
{am  (auspicious  hour)  for  the  Sanchayanam  and  other 
practices  of  the  Malabar  colonists  to-day  represent  an 
epoch  of  history  in  the  old  country  now  quite  forgotten. 
The  Gauda  Brahmin  of  the  north,  undoubtedly  Aryan 
in  his  birth  and  type,  eats  fish  to  this  day.  Thus  thete 
is  nothing  in  this  ceremonial  fishing  of  the  Naipbu- 
{irls  which  should  shock  the  sociological  student  as 
inconsistent  with  the  community’s  purely  Aryan 

•  •  ,  >1 

origin. 

The  last  ceremony  in  a  Naipbujiri  marriage  is 
the  S{hslip2kam,  which  is  a  sacrifice  at  the  domestic 
altar  on  the  day  after  the  succeeding  full  moon® 

According  to  the  Hindu  theory,  the  sacrament  of 
marriage  is  as  indispensable  to  females  as  to  males, 

though  passages  are  to  be  found  in  Sru^Ss,  Smrps 

i.  7  rtrOdHcofs  State  Maitudl,  VoL  II,  p*  a6s. 


Si  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

and  PurSEias  which  make  it  clear  that  marriage  is 
optional  with  either.  In  Malabar,  the  Nambutirls  do 
not  follow  the  Hindu  theory  strictly.  Just  as  the  junior 
members  do  not  enter  into  holy  wedlock,  they  allow 
their  females  to  die  old  spinsters#  But  it  is  said  that 
“tardy  retribution”is  made  to  the  woman  who  dies  un¬ 
married  by  having  the  jsli  tied  round  the  neck  .  of  the 
corpse  while  lying  on  the  funeral  pile  by  a  competent 
relative,  for  the  body  cannot  be  burned  without  this 
mock  ceremony.  The  Abbe  Dubois,  in  his  Hindu 
Manners ,  Customs  and  Ceremonies ,  goes  further  and 
observes  that  he  was  informed  that,  among  the  Naip- 
butiris,  “  if  a  girl,  who  has  arrived  at  an  age  when 
the  signs  of  puberty  are  apparent,  die  before  having 
had  intercourse  with  a  man,  caste  custom  rigorously 
demands  that  the  inanimate  corpse  of  the  deceased 
shall  be  subjected  to  a  monstrous  connection.  For 
this  purpose,  the  girl’s  parents  are  obliged  to  procure 
by  a  present  of  money  some  wretched  fellow  willing 
to  consummate  such  a  disgustingform  of  marriage;  for, 
were  the  marriage  not  consummated,  the  family  would 
consider  itself  dishonoured”.1  The  learned  transla¬ 
tor  and  editor  of  the  Abbe’s  works,  Mr.  Beauchamp, 
in  his  foot-note,  while  asserting  positively  that  the  cus¬ 
tom  no  longer  exists,  leaves  room  for  doubt  as  to 
whether  it  did  not  exist  at  the  time  the  Abbe  wrote, 
and  Mr.  Logan  simply  remarks  that  the  Abbe’s  ac¬ 
count  of  the  strange  funeral-pile  marriage  requires 
confirmation.  Finding  that  this  was  news  to  the 
Naipbujiri  community,  Mr-  Justice  Nsraya^a  Ma  ar 
sought  information  from  “the  greatest  living  authority 
among  the  Naipbu Jills,  on  their  customs,  manners  and 
observances,  viz .,  the  Kaimuk  Vaidlkan  Kpshgan 
NaiflDBjiri,  a  venerable  old  man  nearing  eighty,  who 
assured  me  (says  the  judge)  that  not  only  did  the  cus¬ 
tom  not  exist  at  the  present  day,  but  there  was  not  even 
the. slightest  vestige  of  any  tradition  that  it  had  existed 
among. them  at  any  time.”  Upon  this,  .the  learned 

judge  remarks  very  correctly  that  “the  above  serves 
I*  V61,  i>  pp.  if  and  18. 


In  trod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  85 

merely  to  illustrate  the  various  wild,  baseless  and 
fantastic  notions  that  are  afloat  concerning  the  people 
of  Malabar.’.’1 

The  injunction  of  the  Sankara  Smrti,  that  the 
eldest  son  should  marry,  does  not  prevent  the  other 
male  members  from  matrimony.  The  Smrti  does  not 
certainly. Countenance,  much  less  authorise  or  justify, 
the  present  practice  of  the  junior  members  of  the  Illams 
roaming  at  large,  sowing  their  wild  oats.  It  gives 
them  the  choice  of  marriage  or  absolute  celibacy.2 
It  says  clearly  that  Bhsrgava  is  of  the  decided  opinion 
that  all  brothers  should  marry.  Only  he  does  not 
compel  them  to  marry  as  other  Sr.  {■{•karakas.3  His 
object  is  simply  to  prevent  partitio  i  in  the  family.* 
So  he  says,  if  the  brothers  love  each  other  well  and 
are  of  one  mind  and  desire  marriage,  it  is  best  that  all 
should  marry  with  a  view  to  increase  the  family.5  They 
are  at  liberty  to  take  the  bath  of  celibacy  or  to  enter 
into  holy  matrimony,  but  not  to  lead  a  wild  life.  The 
bath  of  celibacy  means  the  ceremony  by  which  one 
undertakes  to  lead  for  ever  the  chaste  life  of  a  Brahma* 
chari  or  student  spending  one’s  days  in  the  service  of 
God.  Whoever  among  the  sons  that  desire  to  lead 
such  a  life  should  be  allowed  to  take  the  bath.6  He 
who  is  the  father  of  many  sons  should  allow  the-  bath 
of  celibacy  to  be  undertaken  by  those  among  them 
who  are  desirous  of  it  and  get  the  rest  married.7  The 
Smr{i  then  points  out  that,  if  after  the  bath  is  taken, 
he  who  takes  it  goes  astray,  the  whole  family  will  be 
doomed  to  perdition,  and  that,  rather  than  risk  such  a 
contingency,  it  is  better  that  all  should  enter  into  the 
sacrament  of  matrimony.8  O  !  what  a  world  of 

1.  Malabar  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  I,  p.  20. 

2.  SI.  3,  Chap.  5,  Fart  3- 

3.  SI.  4. 

4.  l  •  5  • 

5.  SI.  6. 

6.  SI.  2. 

7.  SI.  3. 

8.  Sis.  7  to  g. 


86  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

difference  between  precept  and  practice !  Would  that 
there  was  some  means  of  compelling  them  to  follow 
the  precept  of  their  patron  saint  strictly  ! 

The  Numbutiris  practise  polygamy  to  a  large 
extent.  Nature  has  so  contrived  that  there  are  as 
many  Nambutiri  women  as  there  are  Nambutiri  men 
in  the  community,  and  the  practice  of  the  elder 
brother  alone  marrying  in  the  caste  leaves  a  large 
number  of  eligible  unmarried  females  with  the  result 
that,  more  often  than  not,  the  eldest  brother  of  an 
Illam  has  to  be  a  polygamist,  some  times  of  the  worst 
type  though  not  so  bad  as  the  Kulin  Brahmans  of 
Bengal,  but  bad  enough.  A  number  of  girls  in  one 
family  are  exchanged  in  marriage  with  a  number  of 
girls  in  another  to  save  marriage  expenses  and  dowry. 
The  women  are  dealt  with  as  mere  marketable  com¬ 
modity.  The  Nambutiri  law  as  to  polygamy  is  con¬ 
tained  in  the  precepts  of  the  Sankara  Smrti.  Having 
enjoined  on  the  necessity  of  one  possessing  male  issue 
to  save  oneself  from  hell  by  the  offer  of  pinda,  Bhsrgava 
goes  on  to  say :  “  It  will  be  difficult  for  even  five 

or  ten  men  to  satisfy  the  sensual  passions  of  a  woman 
then,  need  Isay  that  it  is  sinful  to  marry  two  or 
three  wives?'11  “  Still- if  it  becomes  certain  that  there 
is  no  chance  of  having  a  son  by  the  first  wife,  a  second 
marriage  is  not  objectionable.”1 2  vTf  the  second  wife  too 
bears  no  son,  he  may  marry  a  third  one.  In  the  life¬ 
time  of  these  three  wives,  he  should  not  marry  any 
further.”3  But  Naiptutiris  of  the  present  day  do  not 
often  stop  here.  They  marry  more  and  do  so  more  by 
force  of  circumstances  than  from  personal  inclination. 

We  have  seen  that,  by  custom,  the  eldest  brother 
alone  marries  in  the  caste,  and  that  the  others  consort 
with  Nsyar  women  otherwise  than  with  the  sanction  of 
marriage.  In  spite  of  the  injunctions  of  the  Sankara 
Smr{i  already  quoted  enjoining  the  desirability  of  all 


1.  SI.  8,  part,  2,  Chap.  6. 

2.  SI.  9. 

3.  SI .  10. 


Introd.l 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


87 


males  marrying,  the  Nambutiris  still  invoke  the 

authority  of  SankarSchSrya for  the  origin  of  the  practice. 

They  trace  it  to  the  59th  of  the  64  anjchsrams  or 

irregular  customs  already  noticed.  It  is  noteworthy 

that  the  59th  anSchSram  as  mentioned  in  the  Sankara 

Smjrji  or  the  Kerala  anschsram,  does  not  warrant  the 

assertion  that  the  eldest  brother  of  a  Nambutiri  Illam 

•  « 

alone  should  marry  in  the  caste.  Neither  does  it 
authorise  the  juniors  to  consort  with  Nsyar  women 
without  the  sanction  of  marriage.  It  simply  says 
Jye§hta  BhrSta  Grhi  Bhavet,  which  means  only  that 
the  eldest  brother  should  accept  Grahasta-ASrama  or 
the  duty  of  the  house-holder,1  not  that  the  others 
should  not  marry  or  that  they  should  roam  about  like  a 
wild  bull  and  debauch  the  women  of  another  class. 

The  Smrt;i  writers  have  absolutely  prohibited  mixed 
marriages,  i.  e •,  intermarriage  between  different  castes 
in  the  Kali  age.2  Though  Manu  authorises  the  marriage 
of  a  Brahman  with  women  of  the  other  three  castes,  it 
will  be  found  that,  in  almost  the  same  breath,  he  de¬ 
nounces  such  union  as  extremely  improper  and  un¬ 
desirable.5  He  says  that  a  Brahman  who  enters  into 
holy  wed-lock  with  a  Sudra  woman  thereby  becomes 
degraded  to  the  level  of  a  Sudra  and  quotes  Goufama 
as  his  authority.  In  verse  17,  Manu  says  that  a  Brah¬ 
man  who  cohabits  with  a  Sudra  woman  goes  to  hell,  and 
if  he  procreates  children  in  her,  he  loses  his  Brahman- 
hood.  No  expiation  would  wipe  the  sin  committed  by 
a  Brahman  who  inhales  the  breath  of  a  Sudra  worn  n 

t 

or  who  begets  children  in  her.  Yajftavalkya  expressly  say  ^ 
that  he  dissents  from  the  statement  that  the  ;wice-born 
men' may  marry  Sudra  women.  1  Vishnu  prohibits  it 
altogether.  So  also  modern  Smrti  writers,  such  as 

1.  SI:  24,  Part  IV,  Chap.  12. 

2.  Udvana  Tatwa ;  Raghunandana,  BK.  II,  p.  62; 

Vyavastka  Darpana,  pp.  14-15.  See  also  Steele, 
p.  26;  1  Strange,  40;  General  Note  to  Manu  VI. 

3.  Chap.  3,  V.  J4. 

4.  Chap.  1,  V.  56. 

3.  Chap.  26,  \.  4* 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


Sankha  h  Vyasa1 2.  If  it  is  contended  that  these  authori¬ 
ties  do  not  apply  to  Malabar  Brahmans,  let  us  see  what 
the  Sankara  Smpji,  an  authority  absolutely  binding  on 
them,  ordains  on  the  subject,  Verse  i,  Part  I  IT  Chapter 
2  says: — ‘No  Nambutiri  should  consort  with  a  Nayar 
woman  even  for  the  satisfaction  of  lust.’  Thus  it  is 
clear  that  the  practice  of  modern  Nambutirfrs  consort* 
ing  with  Nayar  women  has  no  basis  in  the  Hindu  law 
or  in  the  Sankara  Smrti.  The  Vyavahara  Samudram,  a 
poetical  treatise  on  Malabar  (of  which  Majd>r  Walker 
states  that  he  was  informed  that  it  was  translated  four 
thousand  two  years  ago!)'3  expressly  prohibits  a  Narn- 
butiri  Brahman  from  having  sexual  connection  with  a 
Nayar  female.  It  says:  “Sudra  Kanyaka  sangajfey 
varjjikkSnam  viSeshata 4.  This  work  is  designed 
especially  for  the  Malayans. 

In  a  recent  case  that  arose  in  the  law  courts,  the 
question  as  to  whether  there  was  any  law  or  custom 
having  the  force  law  which  prohibited  the  junior 
members  of  a  Nambujiri  Illam  from  marrying  in  their 
own  caste  ca  ne  u  fjr  judicial  decision  and  was  decided 
in  the  negative  by  the  Madras  High  Court.5  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  there  are  many  Illams  in  Malabar,  all  the 
members  of  which  marry  in  their  own  caste. 

The  Nambujarls  appeal  to  a  Sanskrit  work,  the 
Keraia  Maha{myam,  in  justification  of  the  practice. 
No ’doubt,  chapters  49  and  50  of  this  work  expressly 
sanctions  it  and  attributes  it  to  divine  ordinance.  The 
KcSrala  Maha^myam  says  that  Parasu  Rama,  who  is 
accepted  by  the  Hindus  to  be  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu, 
brought  eighteen  celestial  maids  from  Indra’s  heaven. 
Coming  to  Vj:$habhadripura  (Trichur),  he  saluted 
all  the  Brahmans  assembled  at  the  Maridapam  of 


1.  Chap.  1,  Vs.  6-9. 

2.  Chap.  2,  V.  2. 

3.  Report  0”  the  Land  Tenures  of  Malabar ^  1801,  p.  6. 

4.  Mack\  Ms: 

5.  Mad.  Law  Jour.%  Vol.  XIV,  p.  214. 


Introd-]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  89 

jSnmulasthSnam,  and  thus  spoke  to  the  learned 
YogachSriar  (preceptor  ol  the  Nambu{irls): — 

“Such  of  you  as  are  not  house-holders  ma} 
have  sexual  intercourse  with  these  beautiful  women 
I  for  the  sake  of  your  personal  enjoyment  as  well  as  for  *- 
the  purpose  of  procreation.”1 

Rama  settled  the  Deva  woman,  with  her  six  maids 
in  the  midst  of  the  town  of  Vr§habhadri  and  gave  them 
six  houses,  to  carry  on  their  amorous  dalliances. 3 

The  Brahmans  may  have  their  sexual  cravings 
satisfied  as  (freely)  as  the  Devas  do  in  heaven,  viz. ,  one 
woman  may  be  enjoyed  by  three  or  four  persons  in 
common*  * 

And  the  Brahmans  shall  not  be  amenable  to  the 
imputation  of  adultery;  for,  are  not  the  celestial  beauties 
so  enjoyable  in  Heavens? 4 

Hence  no  Brahman  shall  be  guilty  of  adultery  in 
my  land.  O!  superior  Brahmans,  s 

And  let  the  celestial  women  remain  in  my  Kgralam 
land  cohabiting  with  Brahmans  according  to  their 
pleasure.”  6 

Compared  to  certain  .other  verses,  the  verses  here 
quoted  are  only  mild  samples  of  the  unblushing  im¬ 
pudence  of  the  author  of  this  treatise.  Those  who 
have  the  patience  to  go  through  the  work  can  easily 
see  the  object  with  which  it  is  written. 

1.  Verse  22. 

2.  Verse  23* 

3.  Verse  26. 

4.  Verse  27. 

5.  Verse  28. 

6.  Verse  30, 


90  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

Rama  is  said  to  have  proceeded  towards  the  north 
and  settled  the  woman  of  the  Gandharva  tribe  with  her 
six  maids  in  the  town  of  Lek$hmipura  (Taliparamba) 
with  similar  injunctions  as  those  proclaimed  at  Trichur1. 

He  then  settled  the  woman  of  the  Rakshasa  tribe 
with  her  six  maids,  who  were  in  the  prime  of  their 
youth,  in  Ambica’s  town  (Mukambi)  for  the  daily 
enjoyment  of  the  Brahmans.  2  In  chapter  48, 
Parasurama  is  said  to  have  ordained  that,  “among 
the  folk  of  this  land,  in  this  my  country,  among  all 
castes,  amongst  all  Samantas  and  among  all  other 
women  likewise,  let  there  be  no  chastity.  But  as  for 
the  wives  of  Brahmans  and  of  Dwijas  (twice-born  class¬ 
es),  let  the  rule  of  chastity  stand  in  regard  to  them; 
with  other  residents,  let  there  be  no  rule  of  chastity.” 

The  K^raia  Mahatmyam  was  cited  as  $n  unerring 
authority  on  Malabar  law  and  custom  by  many  a 
learned  witness  before  the  Malabar  Marriage  Com¬ 
mission,  without  stopping  for  a  moment  to  enquire 
into  its  authorship,  or  as  to  when  it  was  written,  much 
less  to  ascertain  its  authority  over  the  land.  Its 
authorship  is  uncertain.  There  is  no  means  of  knowing 
when  and  where  it  was  produced,  except  that  there  are 
versions  of  it  differing  one  from  the  other.  The  Report 
of  the  Malabar  Marriage  Commission  observes:  “The 
book  would  be  unworthy  of  notice,  were  it  not  relied 
on  as  an  authority  by  many  champions  of  Marumakka{- 
|5yam,  and  were  it  not  that  it  correctly  exhibits  the 
religious  teaching  of  the  Nambu{iri  priesthood  even  at 
the  present  day.”3  Mr.  O.  Chanfu  M^non,  the  only 
dissentient  member  of  the  Commission  who  stood  out 
strongly  for  MarumakkaftSyam,  speaks  as  follows 
regarding  the  Keralotpatti  and  Kerala  Mshafniyam:  — 
“These  two  books  that  are  supposed  to  give  accounts  of 
the  Nayar  institutions  are  works  of  Nampufciri  Brahmans 
who,  from  interested  motives,  have  always  wished  to 

1.  Chap.  50,  verses  2  to  7. 

2.  Verses  8  to  io. 

3*  Para  24. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  91 

make  out  that  our  women  do  not,  and  need  not,  practise 
chastity.”  Again  he  refers  to  these  books  as  “two  re¬ 
cent  Nambutiri  works  composed  with  the  evident  ob¬ 
ject  of  degrading  the  social  status  of  the  Nayars”.  Sir 
T.  Mu{{usw5my  Ayyar  says:  ‘‘Kerala  Mahatmyam,  it  is 
said,  is  not  really  an  ancient  treatise,  but  it  was 
composed  about  1 50  years  ago  by  a  Nambutiri  Brah¬ 
man.”  Mr.  Justice  Moore,  in  his  book  on  Malabar- 
Law  and  Custom ,  in  a  note  on  a  passage  quoted  from 
Montaignes’  essay  on  Virgil,  in  which  there  is  some 
reference  to  marriage  customs  then  existing  at  Calicut, 
observes:  “The  third  book  of  the  Essays  in  which  this 
essay  is  to  be  found  was  first  published  in  1588,  u 
more  than  300  years  ago,  while  the  Kerala  Mahatmyam 
and  KSralotpatti,  written  by  the  Nambutiri  Brahmans 
and  frequently  quoted  as  if  they  were  authorities,  are 
certainly  not  more  than  200  years  old,  if  indeed  they 
can  honestly  claim  anything  like  so  respectable  an  age. 
There  are  strong  grounds  for  believing  that  they  are 
forgeries  dating  from  the  closing  of  the  eighteenth  or 
the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century.  ”  1  The 
writer  again  observes: — “As  years  passed,  .  sometime 
about  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century ,  the 
Kerala  Mahstmyam  and  KSralotpatti  were  concocted, 
probably  by  Nambutirls,  and  false  and  pernicious 
doctrines  as  to  obligations  laid  on  Nayars  by  divine 
law  to  administer  to  the  lust  of  the  Nambutirls  were 
disseminated  abroad”.2 

It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  here  that 
the  Aliyasanfana  system  of  marriage  prevalent  in 
Canara,  which  is  just  like  the  MarumakkattSyam 
system  of  Malabar,  is  supposed  to  be  based  on  the 
authority  of  a  book  alleged  to  be  the  work  of  Bhutala 
PSfldya,  not  dissimilar  from  the  Keraia  Mahstmyam. 
No  less  an  authority  than  the  late  learned  Dr.  A.  C. 
Burnell  observes  of  it  as  follows  in  a  note  in  his  Law 
of  Partition  and  Succession : — 

1.  P.  63 

2.  P.  88 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


32 

“One  patent  imposture  yet  accepted  by  the  courts 
as  evidence  is  Alya  Santanda  Kattu  Kattale ,  a  falsified 
account  of  the  customs  of  South  Canara.  Silly  as 
many  Indian  books  are,  a  more  childish  or  foolish 
tract  it  would  be  impossible  to  discover;  it  is  about  as 
much  worthy  of  notice  in  a  law  court  as  ‘Jack  the 
Giant  Killer’.  That  it  is  a  recent  forgery  is  certain. 
*  *  *  The  origin  of  the  book  in  its  present 

state  is  well-known;  it  is  satisfactorily  traced  to  two 
notorious  forgers  and  scoundrels  about  30  years  ago, and 
all  copies  have  been  made  from  the  one  they  produc¬ 
ed.”1 

The  Kerala  Mshstmyam  is  no  tetter.  It  is  a 
pity  that  the  work  had  not  fallen  into  the  hands  of  so 
profound  a  scholar  and  critic  as  the  late  Dr.  Burnell, 
who  would  certainly  have  been  able  to  expose  its  real 
character.  The  Malabar  Marriage  Commission  observes 
in  its  Report,  4<  The  only  copy  which  the  Commission 
were  able  to  obtain  was  obligingly  sent  by  the  Alu- 
vSncheri  Tampurakkai,  a  Nambutiri  dignitary  esteemed 
to  be  of  the  highest  sanctity,  and  he  informs  the  Com¬ 
mission  that  this  copy  was  made  37  years  ago,  from  an 
older  grantham  (palm-leaf  book)  which  through  age 
was  becoming  undecipherable  and  which  is  now  lost. 
No  information  whatever  is  forthcoming  as  to  the 
authorship  of  the  poem  or  as  to  its  date  ;  and  the  lan¬ 
guage  and  character  in  which  it  is  written  have 
prevented  the  Commission  during  the  short  time  at 
their  disposal,  from  submitting  it  to  a  critical  examina¬ 
tion.  M  And  it  was  not  also  necessary  for  them  to 
have  undertaken  the  task,  for  the  teachings  of  the  book, 
even  if  it  were  authentic,  were  so  much  out  of  date, 
pernicious  and  subversive  of  all  ideas  of  morality  that 
they  had  no  hesitation  in  saying,  “The  Nayars  will  not 
submit  to  this  teaching  much  longer.”  Looked  at  even 
from  the  most  orthodox  point  of  view,  it  is  blasphemous 
to  say  that  Parasurama,  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu, 


i.  P.  12,  note. 


Ititrod^  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  93 

the  preserver  of  the  universe,  would  promulgate  such 
diabolical  doctrines  regarding  the  chastity  of  women 
and  the  moral  conduct  of  the  priestly  class.  The  mere 
statement  of  the  revolting  doctrines  entombed  in  this 
sepulchre  of  a  book  is  sufficient  to  condemn  it. 

It  is  fortunate  for  the  Nsyars  living  to  the  south 
of  Trichur  that  the  Kgrala  Maha'{myam  does  not  touch 
them  or  has  to  do  anything  with  their  marriage 
customs  !  For,  .according  to  it,  ParaSurjma,  in 
settling  his  houries,  stopped  at  Trichur  and  proceeded 
northwards,  settling  the  Gandhafva  and  Rak§hasa 
maidens  at  Taliparamba  and  Muksmbi  and  making 
a  gift  of  them  to  “  the  superior  Brahmans  ”  of  those 
localities,  “  to  play  with  The  Nayars  there  ought 
to  be  thankful  to  the  God  for  not  directing  his  attention 
to  the  south  of  Trichur  and  not  giving  them  the  benefit 
of  the  company  of  his  celestial  maidens. 

Apart  from  the  Kerala  Mahatmyam,  the  authority 
invoked  by  the  Nambutirls  is  long  established  custom. 
A  custom  to  be  recognised  by  law  must  be  reasonable, 
and  no  one  will  regard  as  reasonable  a  usage  which 
condemns  a  class  to  live  in  promiscuity.  “  Custom,” 
observes  Mr.  Justice  West,  “  cannot  prevail  against  a 
recognised  general  interest  of  the  community.”  Says 
Sir  Henry  Maine:  “  There  would  be  little  evil  in  the 
British  Government  giving  to  native  custom  a  con¬ 
straining  force  which  it  never  had  in  purely  native 
society,  if  popular  opinion  could  be  brought  to  approve 
the  gradual  amelioration  of  the  custom.” i  Quoting 
this  passage,  Mr.  Justice  West  observes:  “There  seems 
in  reality  nothing  to  prevent  this  precise  process  from 
taking  place.  The  command  to  be  governed  by  usage 
is  ill-obeyed  by  an  extinction  of  usage  to  the  extent  of 
every  adjudication  which  recognises  it.  Such  a  petri- 
fying  process  would,  in  fact,  be  fatal  to  social  progress, 
and  thus  opposed  to  public  policy  in  the  highest  sense 
of  that  expression.  *  *  As  the  mind  of  the  com¬ 

munity  becomes  enlightened,  its  legal  convictions  will 

i.  Village  Communities ,  p.  725. 


94 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


|L.  20. 

change,  and  this  will  constitute  a  change  in  its  common 
law  as  that  lawr-must,  from  time  to  time,  be  recognised 
and  recorded  in  the  courts.  The  usage  of  individuals 
or  of  a  class  cannot,  in  opposition  to  the  general  con¬ 
viction,  on  which  it  rests  its  validity,  rank  higher 
than  a  practice  without  binding  force. ,,J 

The  effect  of  this  custom  on  Malaysia  society  is  thus 
set  forth  by  the  Malabar  Marriage  Commission: — “As 
regards  the  effect  of  this  precept  on  the  morality  of  the 
Sudra  women  more  will  be  said  later  on, but  it  is  desirable 
here  to  note  the  effect  of  the  system  on  the  Nambujiris 
themselves.  To  keep  the  family  property  imparitible 
and  to  guard  against  an  inconvenient  increase  of 
mouths  to  be  fed,  the  ‘Earth-gods'  set  up  a  rule  that 
only  the  ddest  son  should  take  a  Nambutiri  wife,  and 
that  all  the  junior  members  should  solace  themselves 
by  forming  fugitive  connections  with  Sudra  girls.  The 
issue  of  these  fugitive  unions  following  Marumakka- 
tpyam  were  no  burden  upon  the  Nambutiri  father,  but 
had  to  be  supported  by  the  Karanavan  (senior  male)  of 
the  girl’s  {arawad.  The  defect  in  this  ingenious 
arrangement  is  that  it  leaves  out  of  sight  the  natural 
law  from  which  ‘Earth-gods’  are  not  exempt  and  which 
so  arranges  matters  that  there  are  as  many  Nambutiri 
women  as  there  are  Nambutiri  men.  The  consequence 
is  that  whiie  the  Nambutiri  bachelors  solace  themselves 
with  their  Sudra  loves,  the  Nambufiri  spinsters,  seclud¬ 
ed  and  vigilantly  guarded  in  the  privacy  of  their  house, 
must  live  and  die  unmarried. 

“In  consequence  of  this  custom,  the  females  often 
enter  into  wedlock  at  a  very  advanced  age  or  die  in  a 
state  of  celibacy,  but  so  tenacious  are  they  of  their 
observances  that  the  corpse  undergoes  all  the  ceremonies 
of  marriage”. 1  2  “Many  Nambutiri  Iwomen  necessarily 
never  get  a  chance  of  marriage.”  “In  order  to  get 
their  daughters  married  at  all,  a  Nambutiri  must  be 

1.  I.  L.  R.  4  Bombay ,  562. 

2.  Census  Report  of  Native  Cochi?ix  1875 — 76,  p.  35. 


lntrod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  95 

rich,  for  with  each  of  them  he  has  to  pay  the  ‘bride¬ 
groom  a  heavy  dowry,  and  many  an  illam’s  resources 
have  been  drained  in  this  way.”  1 

“The  Nambutiri  woman,  unlike  her  Brahman 
sisters  on  the  other  coast,  may  remain  unmarried  even 
after  attaining  the  age  of  puberty,  and  there  are  many 
among  them  who  die  virgins  at  an  advanced  age.  Nu¬ 
merous  daughters  are  considered  a  misfortune,  as  their 
dowry  and  other  marriage  expenses  will  impoverish 
any  but  the  wealthiest  Nambutirfs.  They  do  not,  how- 
.  ever,  kill  their  children  on  this  account” — a  forbearance 
for  which  they,  no  doubt,  deserve  due  credit.  “  The 
women  are  guarded  with  more  than  Moslem  jealousy.”* 
An  institution  which,  by  debauching  the  women  of  one 
class,  condemns  the  women  of  another  to  life-long 
and  enforced  celibacy,  is  not  one  which  justice  need 
hesitate  to  condemn.  If  the  reform  movement  set  on 
foot  by  educated  Nayars  should  eventually  have  the 
effect  of  driving  the  Nambutiri  bachelor  into  wedlock 
with  women  of  his  own  caste,  this  indirect  consequence 
of  a  marriage-law  for  Nayars  is  one  which  no  ^right- 
thinking  person  can  deplore.  What  (some  persons 
ask)  is  to  become  in  such  case  of  the  Na<Juvsii  (chief¬ 
tain)  and  other  aristocratic  families,  who  have  hitherto 
preferred  Nambufiri  consorts  for  their  females?  It 
can  only  be  suggested  in  reply  that  they  should  follow 
the  example  of  many  of  their  number  and  marry  in  their 
own  caste.” 

The  Commissioner’s  opinion  as  to  the  effect  of  the 
system  on  the  Nambutiri  men  has  already  been 
quoted. 

Sanyasa  Asramas . — We  have  already  observed 
that  the  Nambutirls  of ’the  present  day  are  not  in  the 
habit  of  entering  the  third  stage  of  life,  the  Vsnaprasp- 
Sfama,  prescribed  for  Brahmans  by  the  Hindu  system. 
It  requires  them  to  retire  into  the  forest  and  lead  a 
'Supremely  austere  life  full  of  privations  and  sufferings) 

X,  Malabar  Manual,  pp.  127 — 8. 

2.  Iravancore  Census  Report ,  1874—75,  pp.  213—14* 


96  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

a  by  no  means  inviting  prospect  to  a  pampered  class. 
Having  nothing  to  gain  in  a  worldly  way  by  leading 
such  a  sort  of  life,  they  eschew  it.  But  there  are  those 
among  them  who  become  Sanyasis  lured  into  it  by 
extensive  estates  attached  to  the  mutts  of  which  they 
become  managers  by  virtue  of  their  position  as 
Sanyasis  of  those  mutts.  This  is  the  last  stage  of  the 
Hindu  scheme  of  life,  that  of  asceticism.  There  are 
mutts  said  to  have  been  founded  by  the  well-known 
Sankarachariyar,  which  are  richly  endowed  by  the 
piety  of  successive  generations  of  Malayali  Hindus. 
There  are  two  such  in  Trichur,  the  Tekkematham  and 
the  Naduvilamatham  with  branch  institutions  through* 
out  Malabar.  These  are  presided  over  by  Sanyasis 
who  are  disciples  in  succession  from  the  founder. 
The  estates  attached  to  the  mutts  are  under  their 
management.  They  have  of  course  to  lead  an  austere 
life,  and  to  conform  themselves  to  rules  which  do  not 
differ  very  much  from  those  of  Sanyasis  elsewhere. 
Those  that  are  peculiar  to  Malabar  Sanyasis  or 
Swamiyars  are : — 

(1)  The  Sanyasis  should  not  have  his  Bhik§ha 
or  food  of  alms  in  all  houses.  He  should  accept  the 
invitation  only  of  a  Grhasta  Brahman  of  the  highest 
class. 

(2)  The  Sanyasis  should  bathe  if  he  touches  or 
approaches  any  one  whose  touch  or  proximity  would 
cause  pollution  to  a.  Brahman*. 

(3)  He  should  bathe  if  he  sleeps  in  the  day  time, 
if  he  vomits,  or  if  involuntary  emission  occurs. 

(4)  He  should,  as  a  rule,  bathe  both  in  the  morn 
mg  and  in  the  evening. 

(5)  When  he  goes  out,  he  should  have  his  attend¬ 
ants  walk  in  front  blowing  a  sank  (conch-shell)* 

(6)  He  must  walk— ‘never  use  conveyances— 
a  rule  more  honoured  in  the  breach  than  in  its  obser¬ 
vance. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  97 

A  Brahman  of  the  highest  class  who  has  perform¬ 
ed  all  the  sacraments  prescribed,  one  who  has  given 
up  all  wordly  thoughts,  one  who  has  got  rid  of  all 
desires,  jealousies  and  other  evils,  one  who  has 
attained  Sadhana  Sampatti  which  consists  of 

(i)  NittySnittya  Vastu  Vivekam,  (2)  VirSgam,  (3) 
Samadi  Shalka  Sampatti  and  (4)  Mumukshuttvam  alone 
is  qualified  to  become  a  SanySsi. 

Sadhana  Sampatti,  otherwise  known  as  Sadhana 
Chatu§htayam,  are. — 

(1)  Nittyanittya  Vastu  Vivekam  or  a  clear  and 
doubtless  knowledge  of  the  perishable  and  the  imperi¬ 
shable.  The  term  itself  has  been  defined  as  follows. — 
A  clear  and  undoubted  conviction  that  Atmaswarupa 
or  the  soul  alone  is  imperishable  (because  he  is  the 
seer  or  the  one  who  sees)  and  that  every  other  thing 
is  perishable  (because  they  are  the  seen)  is  what  is 
known  as  a  clear  perception  of  things. 

(2)  VirSgam  or  VairSgyam  is  aversion  ;  repugn¬ 
ance  of  minds. 

Definition. — An  aversion  to  the  enjoyments  of  all 
the  worlds  beginning  with  Brahma  loka  and  ending 
with  Sthavara  loka  (material  world),  just  as  one  feels 
at  sight  of  the  excrement  of  a  crow,  is  called  VairSgia 
or  aversion. 

(3)  Samadi  Shalka  Sampatti. — This  consists  of 
the  six  attributes  beginning  with  Sama,  to  wit, 

(a)  Sama,  (b)  Dama(3)  Paramoparati  (d) 
k§ha,  (e)  Sradha,  (f)  Samadhsnam. 

Definition: — 

(a)  Sama.— The*  restraining  of  the  inborn  ten¬ 
dencies  of  the  mind  ever  and  anon. 

(b)  Dama. — The  restraining  or  controlling  the 
action  of  the  organs  of  the  body,  such  as  the  eye,  the 
ear,  the  tongue  or,  in  other  words,  the  avoiding  of 
prohibited  actions. 

(c)  Paramoparafi. — A  turning  aside  from  all 
things  of  enjoyment,  such  as  sound,  sight,  taste, etc., 

M. 


98 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


(d)  Titiksha. — Endurance  or  bearing  of  every 
kind  of  pain  or  distress  arising  frQm  such  opposites  as 
heat  and  cold. 

(e)  Sradha. — Reverence  and  belief  in  the  words 
of  the  Upani$hads  and  the  Guru  or  preceptor. 

(e)  Samadhanam. —  Fixing  of  the  mind  on 
Brahma,  the  solitary  aim  indicated  by  the  Vedas. 

(4)  Mumukshutvam. — A  firm  state  of  mind 
whose  attitude  is  “O !  Brahman,  when  and  how  shall  I 
be  freed  from  the  bonds  of  Samsara.” 

Ceremonies . — The  Nambutirls  have  to  observe  the 

Shodasa  Samskaras  like  other  Brahmans.  These  are 
•  • 

according  to  the  Sankara  Smrti. — (1)  Sekam,  (2) 
Pumsavanam,  (3)  S;mantam,  (4)  Jatakarmam, 

(5)  Namakara^am,  (6)  Vatalpurappatu,  (7)  Chorur^u 

(8)  Chouiam,  (9)  Karnavedham,  (10)  Upanayanam, 
(11)  Vedarambham,  (12)  Godanam,  (13)  Samavar{- 
tanam,  (14)  Vivaham,  (15)  Oupasanagni  Swlkaram 
(16)  Adhanam1. 

These  Shodasakarmas  or  the  16  ceremonies  cor¬ 
respond  with  those  of  the  Eastern  Coast  Brahmans,  viz., 

'(1)  Garbhadhanam  (impregnation  rite),  (2)  Pum- 
savana  (ceremony  for  male  issue),  (3)  Garbharak§ha^a 
(for  securing  the  unborn  infant  from  danger),  (4) 
Slmanta.  (hair  parting),  (5)  Jatakarma  (birth  ceremony), 

(6)  Namakarana  (name  giving),  (7)  Ni§hkrama$a 
(carrying  the  child  out),  (8)  AnnapraSana  (food  giving), 

(9)  Choula  (cutting  the  hair  for  the  first  time),  (10) 

•  >  • 

KeSanta  (cutting  the  beard),  (n)  Karijavedha  (boring 
the  ears),  (12)  Upanayana  (initiation),  (13)  Samavarf- 
tana  (returning  from  the  Guru),  (14)  Building  a  house, 
(15)  Vivaha  (marriage),  (16)  Aparakriya  (funerals). 

(1)  Sekam — is  the  nuptials.  It  is  also  called 
Garbhadhanam. 

(2)  Pumsavanam. — Ceremony  performed  for  the 
wife  in  the  third  month  after  conception  with  a  view  to 
her  being  blessed  with  male  issue. 

s.  S/s.  17  to  21,  chap.  5,  part  I. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


99 


Introd.] 

(3)  Slmantam. — This  should  be  performed  in 
the  fourth  month.  Some  think  that  it  may  be  done 
after  the  seventh  month. 

(4)  Jstakarmam. — This  should  be  performed 
within  36  hours  after  birth.  Correctly  speaking,  this 
should  be  performed  before  the  baby  sucks  the 
mother’s  milk.  But  this  is  not  indispensable. 

(5)  Namakaranam. — This  is  the  naming  of  the 
child.  It  may  be  done  in  the  third  part  of  the  night  of 
the  tenth  day,  or  on  the  nth  or  12th  day  after  birth, 
but  in  Malabar  it  should  be  done  only  after  the  purifi¬ 
catory  bath. 

The  names  in  general  use  are  those  of  Pursijic 
deities.  Some  of  the  more  important  personal  names 
in  use  among  Nambutiris  but  which  are  not  used  by 
Brahmans  of  the  East  Coast  are  : — 

For  males _ Vishnu,  Jayantan,  Devadattan,  Kirs- 

tan,  Prabhakaran,  Dattatreyan,  Kadamban,  Chitran, 
Jstavedan,  BhavadSsan,  Srlkumaran,  BhavaSarman, 
Kuberan,  Bhodhayanan,  etc. 

For  females. — Srldevi,  Savitri,  Ganga;  the  names 
of  demi-goddesses  are  those  generally  chosen  for 
females,  suchas  Pevaki,  Subhadra,  Naraya^i,  Lak§hmi’ 
etc. 

There  are,  however,  other  names  also  used  both 
for  males  and  females  ;  but  these  are  either  pet  names 
or  nick  names. 

For  males. — Potayan,  Nambisttan,  IttiySttan, 
Tuppan,  Kunchu,  Kunnan,  Nampotan.  They  are, 
however,  corrupt  forms  of  names  already  mentioned;  for 
instance,  Potayan  is  a  corruption  of  Bodhsyanan,  while 
Tuppan  is  a  corruption  of  Subramanyan,  and  so  on. 

For  females. — Nangeli,  Nangayya,  Ittichiri,  Psppi, 
Unnimaya,  Kanka,  Cheruta,  etc.  Here  again 
Ittichiri  and  Cheruta  are  corrupted  forms  of  Sri  and 
Slfa,  Unnimayi  of  Uma ;  Psppi  of  Psrvati,  and 

Kanka  of  Ganga. 

.  ^ 

Nambutirls  are  generally  known  among  them¬ 
selves,  not  by  their  proper  names,  but  by  the  names  of 


100 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 

their  Illams  or  houses.  Thus  a  member  of  the  Malli- 
SSEry  Illam  is  called  MalliSAeri.  The  father  of  the  house 
is  known  MalliSSeri'Achchan,  the  uncle  as  Malli§$eri' 
Aphan,  the  son  as  MalliSSeri  Makan,  i.  e .,  father  Malli- 
§£eri,  uncle  Malii$£eri,  son  MalliSABri,  etc.  In  address¬ 
ing  Naipbujiripsds,  they  generally  add  the  term  Naipbu- 
firi  to  the  house  name,  e .  the  De§amangala${u 

Narpbu{irip2<J  is  generally  addressed  by  them  as 
jpfcSamangalatpi  Nambutiri  and  so  on. 

(6)  Vstalpurappatu. — This  is  the  taking  of  the 
child  out  of  the  room. 

(7)  Chorunu. — This  is  the  first  feeding  of  the 
child  with  rice,  and  should  be  performed  in  the  sixth 
month. 

(8)  Chouiam. — Tonsure  follows  either  in  the  third 
or  fifth  year.  About  this  time,  the  child  may  begin  his 
education.  He  is  initiated  by  his  father  in  the  alphabet 
on  the  last  day  of  the  Dusara — that  is,  VijayadeSami. 

(9)  Karnavedham. — Ear-boring. 

(10)  Upanayanam. — This  is  the  investiture  with 
the  sacred  thread  performed  in  the  seventh  year. 
After  this  comes  on  the  Brahmacharya  for  three  years. 

This  is  the  most  important  ceremony  Jn  the 
Brahman’s  life,  for  it  is  this  that  makes  him  a 
Brahman.  A  Brahman  is  called  a  £>wija,  or  twice- 
born,  because,  in  addition  to  his  natural  birth,  he  is  said 
to  be  born  again  after  the  Upanayana  ceremony.  A  bird 
is  also  called  £)wija,  because  it  has  twc  births,  one  in 
the  form  of  an  egg  and  afterwards  when  the  shell 
breaks  and  the  little  bird  emerges  out  of  it.  Just  so,  on 
the  performance  of  the  Upanayana,  the  shell  that  sur¬ 
rounds  the  Brahman  boy  is  supposed  to  be  broken. 
The  word  is  a  compound  of  Upa-f-Nayana — Upa=near, 
Nayana=leading.  He  is  said  to  be  led  to  Brahma- 
jft5na  or  the  realisation  of  the  eternal  and  universal  self. 
Upanayanam  should  be  performed  in  the  eighth  year 
including  the  period  that  the  child  was  in  the  mother’s 
womb.  But  if  the  child  has  to  be  taught  the  VB^'ds 


A  NAMPUTIRI 


BOY  AFTER 


CJP  ANAYA  NAM. 


I  To  face  p. 


10 1 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  '  loi 

early,  the  ceremony  may  be  performed  in  its  sixth  year.1 
Anyhow,  he  must  be  invested  with  the  sacred  thread 
before  his  16th  year2  on  pain  of  exclusion  from 
caste.3  In  the  other  countries,  boys  on  whom  Upa- 
nayanam  had  not  been  performed  in  time  are  taken 
into  caste  on  undergoing  the  expiatory  ceremony 
known  Vrajyastorr.a,  but,  in  Kerala,  this  is  not  allowed4. 
The  boy’s  father  or  any  other  closely  related  to 
him  or  one  who  is  by  virtue  of  learning  and 
nobility  suited  for  the  purpose  should  officiate  as  pre¬ 
ceptor*  The  Gj-hyasutra  to  be  observed  is  that  of  the 
officiating  preceptor,  so  that,  if  the  boy  belongs  to  the 
ASwSlayana  Sutra  and  his  preceptor  happens  to  belong 
to  the  Boudhsyana  Sutra,  the  boy  becomes  one  of  the 
latter  class  after  the  ceremony. 

The  ceremony  begins  with  the  payment  of  Guru* 
<}ek§ha$a  to  the  boy’s  teacher.  A  sacrificial  fire  is  made, 
and  the  boy  stands  to  the, west  of  it,  facing  the  east,  with 
the  father  beside  him.  He  holds  his  right  hand  up. 
The  sacred  thread  Yajfiopavltam  to  which  the  skin 
of  Kf§h^Smrgam  (the  black  antelope)  is  attached,  is 
thrown  round  his  shoulders  and  underneath  his  right 
arm,  while  the  boy  stands  reverently  with  his  eyes 
closed.  The  thread  is  made  up  of  fine  country  grown 
cotton  (foreign  cotton  is  prohibited)  spun  by  hand. 
It  must  be  white  to  signify  purity,  endless  to  signify 
eternal  being.  It  is  always  triple.  The  East  Coast 
Brahmans  wear  six  strings  «  er  marriage.  He  is  after 
this  led  to  an  open  space,  an  the  p  iei  t  introduces  him 
to  the  sun  and  invokes  th  God  tc  c  over  tie  new 
Brahmachari  with  his  rays.  He  tlen  *eturns  tc  the 
sacrificial  fire  and  offers  certain  $acri  ices.  . \fera 
few  more  preliminary  ceremonies,  the  Guru  or  pr<  ceptur 
utters  into  the  right  ear  of  bis  disc; pie  the  sacred  letter 
(Jm  which  is  known  as  the  Praijavam,  or  the  piimeval 
sound,  from  which  the  whole  manifested  creation 
is  believed  to  have  developed  and  then  ihe  Gayafri 
i,  Sankara  Smriti ,  SI,  5,  Part  3,  Ch-p,  1. 


102  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [  L.  20 

Mantfam  which  the  teacher  repeats  nine  times.  It  runs 
thus: — “Tat  Savitur  Varennyam  Bhargo  devasya  dhl- 
mahi  dhiyo  yo  nah  prachodayat,”  u  “we  meditate 
on  the  desirable  liorht  of  the  divine  Savitri  who  influ- 

o  > 

ences  our  pious  rites.”  The  Guru  then  instructs  his 
pupil  in  certain  maxims  of  conduct  which  he  is  to 
cherish  and  revere  throughout  the  Brahmacharya  stage. 
Addressing  the  pupil,  the  Guru  says,  “you  have  now 
become  a  Brahman :  you  have  become  entitled  to  the 
study  of  the  Vedas,  perform  all  the  duties  that  pertain 
to  the  Asrama'you  are  about  to  enter.  Never  sleep 
during  the  day.  Study  the  Vedas  by  resigning  your¬ 
self  to  the  care  of  your  spiritual  instructor.”  These 
exhortations,  though  made  in  Sanskrit  are,  explained  in 
Malayaiam  as  well, 'to  enable  the  pupil  to  understand, 
a  feature  unknown  to  Brahmans  on  the  other  coast. 
With  these  words  of  advice,  the  preceptor  gives  him  a 
Da^da  or  stick,  as  if  to  keep  him  in  perpetual  jnemory 
of  what  would  follow,  if  any  of  t  hese  direction  is  dis¬ 
regarded.  The  boy  then  goes  and  makes  Tis  obeisance 
to  his  parents  and  to  all  his  relations,  after  which  he  is 
given  a  brass  vessel,  the  Bhikshapa,tra  (alms-pot) 
in  which  he  collects,  by  a  house  to  house  visit,  food  for 
his  daily  sustenance  during  the  Brahmachari  stage*  He 
proceeds  first  to  the  kitchen  of  his  own  house  with  the 
vessel  in  one  hand  and  the  stick  in  the  other.  The 
boy  making  his  obeisance  in  due  form  to  his  mother 
who  stands  turning  to  the  east,  says  Bhiksham  Bhavati 
Dadatu  fmaysfc  thou  be  pleased  to  give  me  alms).  The 
mother  places  five  or  seven  handfuls  of  rice  in  the 
vessel  and,  after  receiving  similar  contributions  from 
the  other  elders  there  assembled,  he  takes  it  to  the 
father  who  is  the  first  Guru,  saying  Bhikshamidam  or 
‘this  is  my  alms-collection.’  The  father  blesses  it  and 
says,  ‘may  it  be  good’.  After  the  Gayatrijapa,  there  is 
the  ceremony  of  Samidhadhana  which  is  the  Brahma- 
chari’s  daily  worship  of  the  sacred  fire,  corresponding 
to  the  Aupasana  of  the  Grhastha,  and  has  to  be  performed 
twice  every  day.  After  another  Homa  in  the 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  103 

night,  the  cloth  that  covers  the  KrshnSjina  and  the 
sacred  thread  is  removed,  and  the  consecration  of  his 
food  is  then  done  for  the  first  time.  In  addition  to  the 
strap  of  Krshjnajina  worn  like  his  thread  and  the 
Danda  or  the  stick  of  ficus  religiosa  in  his  right  hand, 
the  Nambutiri  Brahmachari  wears  a  Mekhala  or  the 
string  of  Kusa  grass  twisted lm  The  Danda  should  not 
be  too  long  or  too  short,  it  should  not  have  been  burnt 
in  any  part,  the  bark  should  not  have  been  peeled  off, 
it  should  not  be  too  thick,  nor  worm-eaten,  its  head 
should  not  have  been  broken,  neither  should  it  be 
double  headed,  it  should  not  be  bent,  or  curved,  it 
should  not  have  been  fetched  by  a  polluting  caste  man, 
it  should  have  been  cut  either  on  a  new  moon  day  or 
on  the  8th  day  of  the  waning  moon,  it  should  not  have 
had  contact  with  polluting  objects — such  a  Danda  should 
not  be  accepted2.  The  Brahmachari  does  not  wear 
any  clothing  except  the  under-cloth  which  passes  be¬ 
tween  the  thighs  and  covers  the  private  parts.  Even 
with  regard  to  this,  the  Sankara  Smrti  prescribes  dire¬ 
ctions. 

Of  the  Nambutiri  Upanayana  ceremony,  Barbosa 
writes  at  the  beginning  of  the'  16th  century: — “And 
when  these  are  seven  years  old,  they  put  round  their  necks 
a  strap  of  two'  fingers  in  width  of  the  skin  of  an  animal 
which  they  call  Cresnamergan,  and  they^command  him 
not  to  eat  betel  for  7  years,  and  all  this  time  he  wears 
that  strap  round  the  neck  passing  under  the  arm ;  and 
when  he  reaches  14  years  of  age,  they  make  him  a 
Brahman,  removing  from  him  the  leather  strap  round 
his  neck  and  putting  on  another  three  threads  which 
he  wears  all  his  life  as  a  mark  of  Brahmin.”  The 
rules  that  were  observed  in  such  strictness  hundreds 
of  years  ago  are  still  observed,  and  every  Nambutiri 
boy  goes  through  his  period  of  Brahmacharya  which 
lasts  at  least  for  full  five  years.  During  the  whole  of 

1.  Report  on  the  Census  of  Travancore  (1901),  p.  309. 

2.  Sis.  29-32. 

3.  SI.  20,  et  seq. 


104  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

this  period,  no  sandal  paste,  no  scents,  and  no  flowers 
are  to  be  used  by  him.  He  is  not  to  take  his  meals  at 
other  houses  on  festive  occasions.  He  is  not  to  sleep 
during  the  day.  Nor  must  he  wear  a  covering  loin¬ 
cloth  in  the  ordinary  fashion.  Shoes  and  umbrellas 
are  also  prohibited.  1 

(n)  VedSrambham — This  is  the  beginning  of  the 
study  of' the  Vedas. 

(12)  Godanarn — A  ceremony  performed  in  the 
1 6th  year  which  lasts  for  one  year. 

(13)  Samavarttanam — This  is  the  ceremony  which 
closed  the  Brahmacharya  period.  All  signs  of  aust¬ 
erity  are  thrown  off.  He  shaves  for  the  first  time  after 
Upanayana,  puts  on  ornaments,  wears  marks  with 
sandal  paste,  puts  on  shoes,  bedecks  himself  with  sweet 
scented  flowers,  etc. 

(14)  Viv&ham— -This  is  the  marriage  ceremony. 

(15  and  16)  OupSsanSgni  Swik^ram  and  Adha* 
nam — Accepting  the  sacrifical  fire  and  performance  of 
y&gam. 

Funeral  Ceremonies . — When  death  becomes  a 
mere  matter  of  minutes,  some  verses  from  the  Tai{tirla 
Upanishad  are  whispered  in  the  dying  man’s  right 
ear.  This  is  known  as  Cheviyil  Ottu.  This  done 
while  life  is  departing,  and  the  particular  Mantra  is 
called  Karnna  mantra  (ear-hymn).  A  bed  of  Kusa  grass# 
called  Darbhasana,  is  prepared,  and  the  dying  man  is 
placed  on  it.  When  life  has  become  extinct,  the 
blood  relations  of  the  departed  bathe  and,  with  dripping 

cloths  on,  place  two  pieces  of  a  plantain  tree,  one  by 
the  head  and  the  other  by  the  foot  of  the  corpse.  The 
hair  on  the  head  and  face  is  shaved  a  little,  and  the 
body  is  washed  with  water  -wherein  turmeric  (maftftai) 
and  Mailanchi,  a  red  colouring  vegetable  substance, 
are  dissolved.  The  fore-head  is  marked  with  the 
Vai§h$avite  Gopi.  So  also  other  parts  of  the  body 

1.  Travancore  Census  Report ,  p.  309. 


In  trod.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


105 


with  sandal  paste.  The  body  is  then  dressed  in  white 
cloth  and  decked  with  flowers  and  garlands.  It  is  then 
covered  with  unbleached  cloth  which  is  kept  in  position 
by  a  rope  of  Kusa  grass.  It  is  then  carried  to  the  crema¬ 
tion  ground  by  other  Nambutlrls  who  are  outside  the 
pollution  circle  of  the  deceased,  the  eldest  son  supporting 
the  head  and  the  younger  ones  the  legs.  In  some  parts, 
the  body  is  placed  on  a  bier  made  of  bamboos  and  carried 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  nearest  relatives.  In  the  south¬ 
eastern  corner  of  the  Nambutiris5  compound,  the  pyre 
is  prepared.  A  pit  is  dug  and  the  fuel  of  a  mango 
tree  felled  for  the  purpose  is  used.  Some  sandal  is 
also  used  in  the  burning.  The  bier  is  placed  on  the 
pyre,  the  body  uncovered  and  some  rice  is  scattered 
over  the  face  by  the  blood  relatives.  Small  pieces  of 
gold  are  also  thrust  in  to  the  NavadwSra,  or  the  nine 
openings  of  the  body,  while  the  priests  repeat  texts. 
Fire  taken  from  a  homa  or  sacrifice  ( AupasanSgni)  is 
placed  on  the  chest  and  the  pyre  is  lighted  in  three 
places.  The  eldest  son  acts  as  chief  mourner.  He  is 
the  responsible  ritualist,  and  the  younger  ones  have  to 
keep  physical  contact  with  him  while  the  ceremonies 
proceed.  The  performer  of  the  rite  carries  earthern 
pots  of  water  round  the  pyre,  and  the  officiating  priest 
makes  holes  in  it  with  a  knife,  and  receives  water  in 
another  pot,  which  water  is  then  thrown  on  the  pyre. 
This  burning  of  the  dead  body  is  the  last  Samasksra 
or  sacrifice  that  a  Brahman  has  to  offer.  The  mour¬ 
ners  as  soon  as  the  body  is  almost  reduced  to  ashes 
bathe  once  more,  and  taking  some  e»arth  from  an 
adjoining  stream  or  tank  make  a  representation  of  the 
deceased  by  means  of  Avahana  mantrSs  or  texts  em¬ 
ployed  to  attract  life  from  one  body  to  another.  In  all 
these  ceremonies,  the  Marsn  (a  class  of  Nayar)  is  an 
indispensable  factor.  He  has  to  hand  over  the  Kusa 
grass  and  Sesamum  seeds  for  the  oblations  to  be  made 
to  the  deceased. 

On  the  fourth  day,  the  Sanchayanam  or  the  pick¬ 
ing  up  of  the  charred  bones  and  their  disposal  come  on. 

N 


106 


LETTERS  FT  DM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


On  the  nth  day  the  pollution  ceases, when  punnySham 
or  purification  is  performed.  On  the  12th  day,  Sapindi- 
karana  SrSddha,  or  the  ceremony  of  the  joining  the 
fathers,  (after  which  the  dead  person  passes  from  the 
stage  of  Preta  to  that  of  a  mane  or  spirit)  is  observed. 
The  daily  Sraddha  now  commences,  and  the  Dlicsha 
or  special  observance  is  kept  up  for  41  days,  more 
generally  for  a  whole  year,  during  the  course  of  which 
Sr^ddha  is  performed  every  day.  There  are  also  the 
monthly  ceremonies,  Mssika-,  and  the  A§hta  SraddhSs 
(eight  srSddhas).  The  first  annual  anniversary  of  the 
death  is  known  as  Abdika  or  Masam,  a  very  import¬ 
ant  ceremony  in  Malabar,  in  the  celebration  of  which 
money  is  almost  lavishly  spent  according  to  the  circum¬ 
stances  of  the  family-  After^this  there  is  but  the 
annual  Sraddha  or  the  yearly  anniversary  of  the  death, 
calculated  according  to  the  lunar  year,  when  not  less 
than  three  Brahmans  are  well  fed  and  given  presents 
of  money,  cloths,  vessels,  etc. 

Caste  Government.  The  majority  of  Narp- 
butiris  are  followers  of  the  Rig  Veda.  There  are  a  few 
Yajur  vedists  and  Ssma  Vedls.  There  are  also  diverse 
Sutras  and  Gotras  amongst  them  The  most  important 
of  the  Sutras  are  Asvalayana,  Baudhayana,  Apasjamba 
and  Kousika.The  best  known  Gotras  among  them  are: — 
Angiras,  Vasishta,  Kasyapa,  Bh{-gu,  Viswarmtra,  At^ri, 
Bharadwaja  and  Kausika.  There  are  two  Yogams  or 
unions  among  them  known  as  Tfsivaperur  yogam  and 
TirunavSye  yogam.  Another  division  which  is  or  was 
quasi-political,  is  into  the  Panniyur  and  Chowara  Kurs. 
All  caste  matters  are  disposed  of  by  caste  officers  and 
assemblies.  There  w£re  originally  8  SmSrtas  or  judges 
attached  to  the  two  above-mentioned  yogams.  But  at 
present  there  are  only  six.  The  whole  caste  government 
rests  absolutely  with  these  judges.  The  office  is  here¬ 
ditary  and,  in  case  of  the  extinction  of  a  family,  the 
place  is  restored  by  election.  Besides  these  Smsrras, 
there  are  four  Koymas  or  executive  officers, who  too  ar$ 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  207 

hereditary  holders,  whose  duty  is  to  carry  out  the  orders 
of  the  Smartas. 

If  a  Nambutiri  is  suspected  of  being  guilty  of  any  caste 
offence,  or  when  there  is  a  caste  dispute  in  any  locality, 
the  matter  is  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  local  Raja  or 
chieftain,  and  he  refers  it  to  the  Smarta,  who  has  juris- 
diction  over  the  locality,  who  enquires  into  the  ques¬ 
tion  and  gives  his  decision,  against  which  there  is  no 
appeal.  Minor  offences  are  punished  with  the  inflic¬ 
tion  of  penances  such  as  fastings,  danams  or  gifts  or 
special  forms  of  prayer,  etc.  But  graver  ones  are 
visited  with  excommunication  from  the  caste,  which  is 
always  a  terrible  punishment. 

In  illustration  of  the  method  of  caste  inquiries  and 
punishments  a  late  incident  may  be  referred  to.  A 
Naipbufiri  woman  of  the  Cochin  State  was  put  out  of 
caste  for  adultery,  after  the  usual  enquiry,  and,  with 
her,  the  alleged  paramours,  were  also  excommunicated. 
Two  of  the  latter  obtained  from  one  Muttamana  Bhatta- 

9  9  •  • 

tiri,  a  Smarta, who  had  not  taken  part  in  the  inquiry 'a 
pump  or  writing  to  the  effect  that,  as  the  holders 
thereof  protested  their  innocence,  they  were  entitled  to 
prove  it  by  undergoing  the  boiling  ghee  ordeal  at  the 
temple  of  Suchindram.  This  ordeal  had  already  been 
stopped  long  ago  by  the  Travancore  Sirkar,  within 
whose  jurisdiction  the  temple  is  situated.  The  Nam- 
bujiri  community  took  exception  to  the  conduct  of 
Muttamana  Bhattatiri,  and  held  an  assembly  of  the 
whole  community  at  Trivandrum  during  the  sexannual 
.  ceremony  of  Murajapam ,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Maharaja,  and  called  on  the  Bhattatiri  to  explain  his 
conduct.  His  explanation  being  found  unsatisfactory, 
he  and  those  who  took  part  with  him,  or  were  connect¬ 
ed  with  him  in  the  affair,  were  condemned  to  various 
penances. 

The  Bhattatiri  was  for  a  period  of  three  years  to 
repeat  the  Gayatri  mantra  a  thousand  times  every  day 
and,  at  the  end  of  the  period,  he  was  for  12  days  to  cook 
his  rice  in  Panchagavy<im>  u  e*>  the  five  products  of 


108  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

the  cow.  After  this  he  was  to  under?  0  a  peculiar  form 
of  solitary  penance,  and  then  make  a  gift  of  100  cows 
to  as  many  Brahmans  who  were  to  be  fed  sumptuously 
and  to  whom  Pujas  were  to  be  offered — a  rather  cruel 
punishment  to  an  old  man  of  more  than  three  score  and 
ten.  1  he  other  members  of  the  family  as  a  body  were 
to  make  a  gift  of  200  cows  and  undergo  12  Krchram. 
Those  who  took  part  in  the  affair  as  well  as  those  who 
had  associated  with  the  Bhattatiri  and  his  following 
were  similarly  condemned  to  undergo  more  or  less 
severe  penances. 

The  proceedings  are  signed  by  Aluvancheri  Tam- 
ptakal,  four  of  the  six  Vydikans,  the  two  Vadhyans,  a  . 
Smarta,  and  a  host  of  other  Nambupris.  One  of  the 
remaining  Vydikans  and  a  Bhattatiri  were  not  prepared 
to  go  the  extent  the  others  had  gone.  They  held  that 
the  pump  was  not  warranted  and  not  properly  given, 
and  that  those  concerned  need  be  subjected  only  to 
jnati  Sasyam,  a  lesser  sort  of  punishment. 

Adultery.  The  purity  of  the  race  is  so  jealously 
and  rigidly  guarded  that  the  least  suspicion  as  regards 
the  conduct  of  a  Nambutiri  woman  forms  the  subject 
of  elaborate  and  rigorous  enquiry.  The  Sankara 
Smr{i  says  that  the  whole  world  rests  on  the  chaste 
conduct  of  women,  and  the  country  where  Brahman 
women  are  not  chaste  cannot  claim  to  be  properly 
governed.  So  the  Raja  should  always  be  on  the  look 
out  for  suspects  and  punish  them  severely.  The  en¬ 
quiry  is  conducted  by  the  Smarta,  and  hence  the  term 
Smarta  Vicharam.  No  consideration  whatever  would 
deter  a  Nambutiri,  when  once  his  suspicion  is  arousedf 
from  courting  a  formal  enquiry  into  the  conduct  of  a 
female  member  of  his  family,  however  dear,  or  however 
closely  she  may  be  related  to  him.  The  Smrti  ordains 
that  he  should  at  once,  go  with  his  Vadhyan  to  his 
relatives,  and  call  their  attention,  to  his  suspicions. 
He  should  then  bring  home  with  him  the  Vadhyan,  5 
or  6  Eijangars  (clansmen)  who  are  truthful,  well 
versed  in  sifting  the  matter,  and  arriving  at  the  truth, 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  109 

and  who  have  persuasive  tongues.  These  at  first  inter¬ 
rogate  three  of  the  Nayar  maids  attending  the  Illam,  who 
may  be  expected  to  know  what  transpires  in  the  house, 
and  who  may  be  expected  to  speak  out  the  truth.  This 
preliminary  enquiry  is  called  Dssi  vicharam.  If  by  this 
enquiry  the  suspicion  is  found  to  be  well  grounded,  the 
suspect  is  at  once  removed  to  a  shed  outside  the  main 
building.  As  it  should  be  outside  the  Nalukeftu  or 
quadrangle,  it  is  called  AnchSmpura,  i.e.,  the  fifth  house. 
If  there  is  not  a  permanent  building  available,  a  tern* 
porary  shed  is  raised  with  green-thatch  roofing, and  there¬ 
fore  called  Pachcholappura.The  suspect  is  thenceforward 
not  called  by  her  name,  or  as  Anfarjanam,  but  is  known 
as  Sadhanam  or  4  the  thing  5,  or  4  article 

After  this,  the  Grhasta,  accompanied  by  his  Enian- 
garsand  others,  goes  before  the  reigning  sovereign  and 
lays  before  him  his  suspicions.  He  should  say,  “Oj 
sovereign,  pray  do  all  that  is  necessary  to  be  done  to 
relieve  me  from  this  difficulty,  and  thus  protect 
pharma  ”  (justice,  religion,  etc.).  Upon  this  the  Raja 
should  appoint  a  smarta  (judge)  and  four  Mimamsakas 
or  men  learned  in  the  law.  The  Raja  should  also  send 
a  Brahman  to  represent  the  sovereign,  who 
should  be  supplied  with  a  cloth  with  which  he  has  to 
cover  his  head  and  face  when  sitting  at  the  enquiry.1 
At  present  this  latter  office  is  known  as  Koyma. 
There  are  two  classes  of  Koymas,  the  Akakoyma 
(whose  office  is  hereditary),  and  the  Pura  Koyma 
who  is  appointed  for  the  time  being.  The  business  of 
the  former  is  to  preserve  order  within,  and  of  the  latter 
to  watch  the  whole  enquiry  as  the  deputy  of  the 
sovereign.  The  Mimamsakas  frame  the  questions 
and  communicate  them  to  the  Raja’s  deputy  and  the 
Smarfa  in  private.  This  should  be  done  from  outside 
the  house,  say,  at  the  nearest  pagoda.  Their  one 
object  should  be  to  arrive  at  the  truth."  The  Smarfa 
should,  after  he  has  fully  understood  and  grasped  the 

1.  SI.  8 ,  pt.  i,  Chap.  8. 

2,  SI.  g  to  io. 


110  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [  L.  20. 

import  of  the  questions  framed,  proceed  to  the  house 
along  with  the  Raja’s  deputy  and  the  Grhasta.  He 
should  in  the  meanwhile  pray  to  the  sun  and  moon, 
who  are  ever  witnesses  to  all  the  thoughts  of  men, 
whether  good  or  evil,  as  also  of  all  that  transpires  in 
this  mundane  sphere,  to  cause  the  truth  of  the  matter 
to  be  disclosed  and  demonstrated.1  It  would  appear 
that  at  present  in  Travancore  alone  the  Smarta  con¬ 
ducts  the  enquiry,  while  outside  that  State  one  of  the 
six  Vaidikas  accompanies  the  Smarta,  who  merely  acts 
as  the  proxy  of  the  Vaidlka,  and  is  authorised  and 
guided  by  him.  On  reaching  the  place  where  the 
Sadhanam  or  ‘  suspect  ’  is,  the  Smarta  pretends  not  to 
know  that  she  is  within  the  Anchampura,  and  proceeds 
to  enter  the  room,  when  the  maid-servant,  who  stands 
at  the' door,  prevents  him  saying  that  her  mistres  is 
inside.  The  Smarta  expresses  surprise  that  a  lady  of 
the  house  should  be  confined  there,  and  asks  the  reason 
why.  This  leads  to  the  examination  which,  with 
scrupulous  respect  to  the  ghosha  observances  of  the 
class,  is  at  first  conducted  through  the  maid,  and  the 
‘  suspect  ’  is  made  to  admit  that  there  is  a  charge 
against  her.  •  This  is  the  first  point  to  be  gained,  for 
nothing  further  can  be  done  in  the  matter  until  the 
accused  herself  has  made  this  admission.  This  point 
however  is  not  easily  gained  and  the  Smarta  has 
often  to  appeal  to  , her  own  feelings  and  knowledge  of 
the  world  and  asks  her  to  recollect  how  unlikely  it 
would  be  that  an  Antarjanam  of  her  position  should  be 
turned  out  of  her  house  and  placed  in  the  Anchampura 
unless  there  was  some  cause  for  it.  The  Smarta  sits 
in  the  adjoining  room,  so  that  neither  the  judge  or 
the  ‘suspect’  can  see  each  other,  though  they  can 
hear  each  speak.  The  ‘suspect’  sits  aiear  the  door 
and  the  Smarta  puts  the  questions  prepared  by  the 
Mlmamsakas.  Meanwhile  the  Raja’s  deputy  sits  by 
the  side  of  the  Smarta  with  his  head  and  face  covered, 
i .  »S/,  11. 


Intrdd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  m 

paying  particular  attention  to  the  questions  and 
answers.  If  he  finds  the  questions  are  not  put  properly, 
he  should  at  once  drop  the  cover.  This  will  draw 
the  attention  of  the  Smarta,  and  he  should  proceed  to 
repeat  the  questions  which  the  Mlmamsakas  had 
instructed  him  to  ask.  When  the  Raja’s  deputy  finds 
that  the  questions  are  properly  put,  he  should  cover 
his  head  and  face  again.  The  answers  received  should 
be  carefully  stored  in  memory  and  communicated  to 
the  Mlmamsakas  in  the  presence  of  the  Raja’s  deputy 
who  should  act  in  the  same  manner  as  at  the  enquiry, 
with  regard  to  the  answers.  The  process  should  be 
continued  till  the  innocence  is  proved  or  the  guilt  of 
the  ‘suspect’  is  brought  home  to  her.  If  she  admits 
the  guilt,  the  purda  is  removed,  and  the  ‘suspect’ 
appears  before  her  judge.  Otherwise,  till  she  gives  a 
circumstantial  confession,  the  questioning  in  camera 
will  go  on.1  Often  the  enquiry  is  an  expensive  one,  as 
it  lasts  for  days  and  days  together,  and  the  Grhasta 
has  to  maintain  the  whole  judicatory  staff.  It  is  not 
enough  to  confess  guilt.  She  should  point  out  all  her 
paramours,  if  there  be  more  than  one.  She  should  be 
particularly  asked  who  the  first  partaker  in  her  guilt 
was,  and  then  the  2nd,  3rd  and  so  on.  She  should 
herself  give  out  the  names.  Often  the  questions 
degenerate  into  indelicate  and  obscene  forms,  yet  they 
have  to  be  asked.  The  Smarta  communicates  the 
result  of  his  interrogation  to  the  Mlmamsakas.  All 
of  them  should  then  go  in  a  body  to  the  Raja  to 
whom  a  detailed  report  should  be  made.  The  Raja’s 
deputy  and  the  Mlmamsakas  should  carefully  watch 
that  the  Smarta  makes  a  correct  report.  If  he  goes 
wrong,  the  Mlmamsakas  should  set  him  right.  The 
Raja’s  deputy  should  report  to  his  master  if  the 
Smartas  or  Mlmamsakas  have  in  any  way  misconducted 
themselves.  The  ‘suspect,’  who  has  now  been  thus 
found  guilty,  after  having  made  a  full  circumstantial 
and  voluntary  confession,  should  be  “sent  out’*  with 

the  clapping  of  hands.2 

1.  (Sls.  iz  to  19). 

3,  (SJs.  19  tO  20). 


112  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

In  former  days,  when  the  servant  accused  her  mis¬ 
tress  and  there  was  other  evidence  forthcoming,  but 
the  accused  did  not  confess,  various  modes  of  torture 
were  resorted  to  in  order  to  extort  a  confession,  such 
as  rolling  up  the  accused  *  in  a  piece  of  matting  and 
letting  the  bundle  fall  from  the  roof  to  the  court-yard 
below.  This  was  done  by  women,  and  the  mat  sup¬ 
plied  the  place  of  the  purdah.  At  other  times  live 
ratsnakes  and  other  vermin  were  turned  into  the  room 
beside  her,  and  even  in  certain  cases  cobras,  and  it  is 
said  that  if,  after  having  been  with  the  cobra  a  certain 
length  of  time,  and  she  was  unhurt,  the  fact  was  accepted 
as  conclusive  evidence  of  her  innocence.1  When  the 
enquiry  is  closed,  and  the  party  has  assembled  at  the 
village  temple,  the  guardian  of  the  woman  appears 
before  them  and  makes  his  obeisance-  The  Smarfa 
then  recounts  the  whole  course  of  the  enquiry,  and 
solemnly  pronounces  sentence  of  excommunication. 
The  proceedings  then  assume  a  sad  and  serious  aspect. 
The  assembly  comes  outside  the  temple  and  a  Pattar 
Brahman,  i.  e.,  one  of  the  East  Coast,  in  a  stentorian 
voi-ce,  repeats  the  substance  of  the  charge  and  the 
sentence  awarded.  A  man  from  the  assembled  crowd 
steps  forward  and  snatches  her  umbrella  with  which 
Nambutiri  ladies  screen  themselves  when  going  out, 
as  she  is  no  longer  worthy  to  carry  it;  she  has  also  to 
divest  herself  of  the  brass  bracelets  worn  on  -her 
arms.  The  Dasi  or  maid,  who  has  hitherto  attended 
her  always,  is  ordered  to  leave  her,  and  the  Smarfan 
claps  his  hands  and  the  assembly  joins  him  in 
this,  in  token  of  her  being  turned  out  of  caste.  He  who 
was  hitherto  her  guardian  leaves  her,  and  the  Smarta 
hands  her  over  to  the  Pufakoyma,  or  the  representative 
of  the  sovereign.  From  this  moment  she  is  considered 
dead  and  the  family  performs  her  funeral  rites. 
She  becomes  in  future  to  them  even  less  than 
if  she  had  died.  Indeed,  if  she  happens  to  die  in 
the  course  of  the  enquiry ,  the  proceedings  go 

i.  Malabar  p.  133. 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


113 


on  as  if  she  were  still  alive  and  they  are  formally 
brought  to  a  conclusion  in  the  usual  manner  by  a 
verdict  of  guilty  or  of  acquittal  against  the  men  im¬ 
plicated.1  The  members  of  her  family  have  then  to 
perform  certain  penances  or  Prayaschijtams,  expiatory 
ceremonies,  as  prescribed  by  the  Vydlkan.  After  this, 
a  Suddha-bhojanam,  or  feast  given  in  token  of  purifi¬ 
cation,  is  held,  at  which  the  members  of  the  enquiring 
committee  as  well  as  the  other  Brahmans  sit  with  the 
members  of  the  family  and  take  their  meals.  This 
brings  the  matter  to  a  close.  Similar  ceremonies  have 
also  to  be  performed  in  the  families  of  her  partners  in 
guilt,  who  are  also  excommunicated.  Every  one  of 
them,  except  the  one  who,  according  to  the  woman’s 
statement  was  the  first  to  lead  her  astray,  has  a  right 
to  be  admitted  to  the  ‘  boiling-ghee  ordeal  ’,  as  adminis- 
tered  at  the  temple  at  Suchlndratfi  in  Travancore.  If 
his  hand  is  burnt,  he  is  guilty  ;  if  it  comes  out  clean,  he 
is  judged  as  innocent.  The  order  for  submission  to 
the  ordeal  is  called  a  pampu  and  is  granted  by  the 
president  (Smarta)  of  the  tribunal.  Since  this  form  of 
ordeal  at  Suchlndram  has  been  abolished  by  the 
Travancore  Sirkar,  and  all  forms  of  ordeals  put  a  stop 
to  by  all  the  governments,  a  pumpu  is  no  more  of  any 
use.  By  virtue  of  the  excommunication,  the  accused 
men  are  cut  off  from  their  families  by  the  performance 
of  the  ceremony  of  Udaka-Vichhedam  after  which  their 
funeral  rites  are- also  performed.  They  possess  no 
longer  any  rights  in,  or  to,  the  family  and  are  driven 
out  of  it.  Here  too  a  suddha-bhojanam  follows.  Though 
cut  adrift  from  caste  and  society,  the.  Baja  should 
see  that  she  receives  her  maintenance  so  long  as  she 
expresses  contrition,  and  leads  a  proper  and  decorous 
life.  This  is  still  the  rule  in  the  Native  States  of 
Travancore  and  Cochin.  The  following  document 
shows  how  the  excommunicated  adulteress  and  her 
par  amours  are  dealt  with  in  Cochin  after  they  have 

i.  Malabar,  p.  125.  O, 


114  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

been  turned  out  of  caste  after  the  sentence  has  been 
pronounced.  It  refers  to  the  case  already  mentioned. 

Proceedings  of  the  Diwan  of  Cochin • 
Miscellaneous  Branch. 

Read  the  following  letter,  Ref.  on  C.  No.  1230  of 
80  of  5th  July  1905,  from  the  Sarvadhikariakar  (Secre¬ 
tary  to  H.  H.  the  Raja.) 

The  charge  of  infidelity  against  the  siispected 
ssdhanam  (creature)  of  Kuriygtath  Illam  of  Eyyal 
Pravartti,  Chemmantatta  Mufi,  having  been  inquired 
into,  she  was  brought  down  here  and  sentence  pro¬ 
nounced  upon  her  (Swarupam  Cholluka)  on  the  31st 
of  this  month.  As  it  has  been  the  custom  to  lodge 
such  sSdhanam  in  a  secluded  locality  by  the  side  of  a 
river  and  give  her  sustenance  and  maintain  her  till  her 
death,  the  above-mentioned  sadhanam  is  sent  under 
custody  of  policemen,  who  have  instructions  to  take 
her  to  a  place  near  the  Uttupurah  (Choultry  or 
Brahman-feeding  house  )  at  Chalakkudi,  leave  her 
there,  and  come  away.  Conveyances  should  be 
arranged  for  the  ssdhanam  and  the  Police  constables 
and  maid  servants  who  escort  her,  to  proceed  from  here 
to  Chalakkudi.  Their  feeding  at  the  Chalakkudi  Uttu¬ 
purah  should  also  be  arranged  for.  As  soon  as  the 
ssdhanam  reaches  Chalakkudi,  she  should  be  lodged 
in  a  house,  if  there  is  one'  close  by.  Otherwise  a 
house  should  be  built  of  mud  wadis  and  bamboo 
roofing,  with  door  and  lock,  and  she  should  be  lodged 
therein,  with  no  opportunity  to  have  any  sort  of  inter¬ 
course  with  any  one.  She  should  be  given  one  measure 
of  rice  with  the  necessary  accompaniments  daily  for 
the  rest  of  her  life  from  the  Chalakkudi  Uttupura. 

When  sentence  was  pronounced  on  the  above 
mentioned  sSdhanam,  [here  follows  the  names  of  65 
men,  composed  of  a  Namputiripsd,  Naippufiris, 
Pattars  (East  Coast  Brahmans),  NambiaSSans, 
Vsriars,  Pi§haroties,  Putuvais,  MsrSrs  and  Nsyars] 
these  have  been  named  as  partakers  of  her 
guilt.  These  should  be  prevented  from  frequenting 


In  trod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  115 

the  neighbourhood  of  their  vl{u,  illam,  and  matham 
(designation  of  the  houses  of  Nsyars,  Nambufiris  and 
other  Brahmans  respectively)  as  also  from  resorting  to 
places,  such  as  temples,  illams,  etc.,  where  sajjanam 
(virtuous  men)  frequent.  They  should  also  be  prevent¬ 
ed  from  touching  tanks,  wells,  etc.,  and  thus  be  shut 
out  (discarded).  This  communication  is  made  under 
command  of  His  Highness  ( Kalpdnaprakaram — accord¬ 
ing  to  Royal  orders)  the  Maharaja  for  immediate 
action”. 

Order ,  dated  15th  July  1905,  Ref :  on 
C.  No.  2949  of  1080 . 

Communicated  to  the  two  Peishkars  (Divisional  offi¬ 
cers)  and  the  Superintendent  of  Dgvaswams  (temples) 
and  Uftupurahs  (feeding  houses)  who  are  requested  to 
give  effect  to  His  Highness’s  commands  conveyed  in 
the  Sarvadhikariakar’s  letter  at  once . 


To 

The  two  Peishkars. 

Superintendent  of  DSvaswams  and  Ottupurahs. 

Endorsement  on  C.  No .  4051  of  1080 . 

True  copy  forwarded  to  all  the  Taluks  and  DSva- 
swam  Tahsildars,  Ksriaksrs,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.,  for  infor¬ 
mation  and  guidance.” 

There  is  little  or  no  surveillance  kept  over  them, 
and  they  soon  manage  to  quit  the  place  where  they  are 
lodged.  In  the  District  of  Malabar,  according  to  Mr. 
Logan,  the  woman  thus  driven  outgoes  where  she  likes. 
Some  are  recognised  by  their  seducers,  some  become 
prostitutes;  not  a  few  are  taken  as  wives  by  the  Chetties 
of  Calicut.  A  few  find  homes  in  institutions  specially 
endowed  to  receive  them. 

“These  last-mentioned  institutions”,  says  Mr. 
Logan,  “are  of  a  peculiar  character.  Perhaps  the  best 
known,  because  it  has  formed  the  subject  of  judicial 
proceedings,  is  that  of  the  Miedatta  Aramanakal  in 


116  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [t.  20. 

the  Chirrakal  Taluk  with  extensive  jungly  land  endow¬ 
ments.  The  members  of  this  institution  are  respectively 
styled  as  Mannansr  or  Machchiyar  according  as 
they  are  men  or  women.  They  have  baronial 
powers  and  keep  up  a  sort  of  baronial  state,  for 
which  purpose  two  hundred  Nairs  of  the  Edavakutti 
Kulam  (or  clan)  were  in  former  days  bound  to  follow 
the  Mannanars  when  out  on  active  service.  The  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  institution  are  recognised  as  of  the  Tiyan 
(Toddy  drawer)  caste,  and  the  sons  of  Machchiyars  be¬ 
come  in  turn  Mannanar  (or  barons).  The  women  take 
husbands  from  the  Tiyan  community.  The  women 
who  are  sent  to  this  institution  are  those  convicted  of 
illicit  intercourse  with  the  men  of  Tiyan  or  of  superior 
castes.  If  the  connection  has  been  with  men  of  lower 
castes  than  the  Tiyan  (toddy  drawer),  the  women  are 
sent  on  to  another  institution  called  Kutira  Mala,  still 
deeper  in  the  jungles  of  the  Western  Ghats”!1 

Of  late,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  bring  about 
modifications  in  the  inquiry,  in  deference  to  the  grow¬ 
ing  impression  that  the  alleged  paramours  are  being 
condemned  to  excommunication  unheard*  on  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  an  accomplice  who,  on  her  own  confession, 
has  lost  character.  The  Raja  of  Cochin,  in  consultation 
with  the  Sm2r{as,  Vydlkans,  and  other  Narpbujiiris,  has, 
on  the  principle  of  audi  alteram  partem>  ruled  that  the 
persons  named  by  the  woman  should  also  be  called 
on  to  defend  themselves.  They  are  allowed  to  cross- 
examine  the  woman,  and  produce  such  evidence  as 
they  deem  necessary.  But,  being  a  socio-religions 
inquiry,  no  representation  by  counsel  is  allowed. 
However  meagre  this  privilege  may  be,  one  may  con¬ 
sole  oneself  with  the  thought  that  half  a  loaf  is  better 
than  no  bread. 

The  old-world  simplicity  which  pervades  the  whole 
course  of  the  inquiry,  the  idea  of  preserving  intact  the 
purity  of  the  race  which  impels /even  the  nearest  and 
dearest  relative  to  proclaim  from  the  housetops  the 

i.®Maiabar,  Vol.  It  pp.  125—126] 


introductory  notes 


11? 


Introd.] 

infamy  of  a  wife,  mother,  sister  or  daughter,  is  charac¬ 
teristic  of  the  Nambutiris.  They  beli^Ve  that,  unless  the 
matter  is  closely  enquired  into  and  the  guilty  excluded 
from  caste,  both  themselves  and  the  guilty  are  destined 
to  perdition.  Over  and  above  this,  they  also  believe 
that  the  world  itself  is  doomed,  if  an  unfortunate 
woman  of  their  caste  goes  astray.  So  in  justice  to 
themselves,  in  justice  to  the  outside  world,  in  justice 
to  the  frail  woman  herself,  the  Nambutiri  feels  com- 
pelled  to  court  a  formal  open  inquiry.  One  may  be 
pardoned  in  wishing  that  he  may  show  half  this  delicacy 
of  feeling  with  regard  to  the  Nayar  women  whom  he 
deliberately  debauches.  The  procedure  adopted  is 
equally  characteristic  of  them.  The  matter  is  not 
brought  before  the  sovereign  till  the  guardian  and  the 
relatives  are  satisfied  that  there  is  a  prima  facie  case 
for  enquiry.  Then  it  is  the  maid  that  is  approached 
and,  unless  the  suspicion  is  supported  by  her  testimony, 
the  matter  is  dropped.  The  sentiment  of  the  ‘suspect* 
is  so  much  respected  that  till  she  confesses  her  ghosha 
is  respected.  Neither  the  Smarfa,  nor  the  MJmamsa- 
kas  nor  the  Raja’s  deputy  sits  in  her  presence.  The 
feint  by  which  the  enquiry  is  introduced  and  the 
extreme  unwillingness  to  proclaim  in  public  that  the 
‘suspect*  is  out*casted,  are  also  characteristic  of  the 
Naipbufiris. 

Festivals. — The  following  are  some  of  the  more 
important  festivals  observed  by  NaipbujirTs  :  — 

(i)  T^kketta  or  Gyeshta  star,  (2)  Upskarmaip, 
(3)  Nagar  Panchami,"  (,4)  Gokula§htami  or  A§htami 
Rohi$i,  (5),  Vinayaka  Chafurfti,  (6)  Oijam,  (7)  Ma- 
kham  or  Magha  star,  (8)  Nava  Ratri  or  Dassara, 
^9)  Dlpavali,  (10)  All  the  days  in  the  month  of 
TulSm,  (11)  GauripUja,  (12)  'Tiruv3{ira,  (13)  A§ta- 
kalam,  (14)  Sivaratri,  (15)  Puram,  (16)  Vi§hu  (17) 
The  new  moon  day  in  Kafkatakam. 

(1)  Trikketta .  In  the  month  of  Chingam,  on  the 
day  of  the  Gye$h(a  star,  18th  asterism,  all  the  married 


118  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [  L.  2p. 

male  members,  as  well  as  all  female  members,  of 
a  family  eat  before  sunrise  food  prepared  in  the  early 
hours  of  the  morning.  It  goes  by  the*  name  of  Tfk- 
kstta  Palayafu  (old),  though  it  is  not  really  the  previous 
day’s  food.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Sankara 
expressly  prohibits  eating  palayafu,  food  cooked  the 
previous  day. 

(2)  Upakarma .  The  day  in  the  month  of  Chin- 
gam  on  which  the  sacred  thread  is  renewed  after 
Pr5ya$chitfam  or  penance  for  the  sins  of  the  last  year. 

(7)  Makam .  This  is  really  a  harvest  festival 
celebrated  for  Dhanyasamardhi,  or  prosperity  in  grain. 
A  few  grains  of  paddy  are  taken  by  the  ladies  of  the 
house,  who  anoint  them  with  oil  and  bathe  them  in 
turmeric  water,  consecrate  them  with  the  repetition  of 
certain  hymns,  and  these  are  then  deposited  in  the 
Ara  or  store  room  of  the  Illam .  If  there  are  females 
born  under  the  Makam  star,  10th  asterism,  they 
should  do  this.  This  ceremony  comes  on  in  Kanni 
or  August-September. 

(10)  In  the  month  of  'J'ulSm  (October-Novem- 
ber)  young  unmarried  girls  perform  Ga^apafi  Paja 
every  morning  before  4  a.  m. 

(11)  Gauripuja .  This  is  the  worship  of  the 
goddess  Gouri,  wife  of  Siva,  on  any  selected  Monday 
of  the  month  of  Vrschika  (November-December).  It 
is  known  as  Ammiyurp  Vilakkuip  To^uka,  or  “  touch¬ 
ing  the  grinding  stone  and  lamp.”  The  grinding  stone 
of  the  house  is  cleaned  and  a  bronze  mirror  is  placed 
on  it  and  the  married  women  of  the  house  proceed  to 
worship  the  goddess  whose  wedded  life  is  believed  to 
represent  the  ideal  of  conjugal  happiness. 

(12)  Tiruvadira — Though  this  festival  is  des¬ 
cribed  elsewhere,  there  are  certain  features  of  it  that 
are  peculiar  to  the  NarpbU{iris.  The  early  bathing  and 
the  worshipping  of  Siva  begins  7  days  before  'firuvs* 
jira.  On  the  day  previous  to  JiruvSj;ira,  they  take 
what  is  known  as  Ettangstfi  (8  articles  of  food). 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  X19 

On  the  Jiruv^ira  day,  6th  asterism,  only  one 
meal  is  taken.  The  husband  and  wife  sit]  together 
before  a  lighted  fire  and  keep  night  vigils.  They  also 
chew  a  bundle  of  betel-leaves  not  less  than  a  hundred 
and  one  in  number.  All  this  is  intended  to  promote  the 
felicity  of  married  life. 

(13)  Ashtakalam . — On  the  new  moon  day  of 
Dhanu  ^  January — February  ),  the  Pitrus  or  manes  of 
ancestors  are  propitiated  by  offerings  of  Pi^da  and 
'farpapa — oblations  of  rice  and  water. 

ti  5)  Pooram . — In  the  month  of  Mina  (March — 
April)  and  on  the  nth  asterism  day,  the  unmarried  girls 
of  the  lllam  worship  Ksmadeva,  the  god  of  love,  repre¬ 
sented  by  a  clay  image,  for  7  days.  After  the  worship  is 
over,  the  image  is  given  away  to  a  Brahman  along  with 
some  money.  He  deposits  it  in  a  well.  The  flowers 
used  in  the  worship  are  placed  by  the  girls  at  the  foot 
of  a  jack  tree. 

(17)  On  the  evening  of  the  new-moon  day  in  the 
month  of  Kafkatakam  (July — August),  various  kinds  of 
sweetmeats  are  prepared  and,  before  the  family  par¬ 
takes  of  them,  a  portion  of  each  is  placed  on  the  loft  of 
the  house  for  the  rats  to  consume,  believing  that  this 
will  propitiate  their  master  the  god  Ganapati. 

The  other  festivals  are  described  later  on,  as  they 
are  common  to  other  communities  also  in  Malabar. 

Their  position  in  caste  and  society . — The  Nam* 
bufiris  occupy  both  in  caste  and  society  a  unique  posi¬ 
tion.  They  are  considered  by  other  Malayali  Hindus 
as  BhudSvanmsr,  god  on  earth.  As  such  they  claim 
to  possess  extraordinary  powers.  They  profess  to  in¬ 
fuse  the  spirit  of  God  into  images  made  of  wood  and 
stone,  and  vivify  these  by  means  of  their  sonorous 
mantrams  and  incantations  and  the  ringing  of  their 
bells.  They  claim  also  the  power  of  withdrawing 
from  these  self-same  images  the  life  they  profess  to 
have  infused  into  them,  leaving  the  stone  and  wood  the 
dead  inert  matter  they  really  are.  They  profess  to 


120  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L..  20 

have  the  power  of  raising  from  the  lowest  rung  of  the 
caste  ladder  to  the  topmost  a  Sudra,  one  of  the  servile- 
class,  and  invest  him  with  the  extraordinary  privileges 
appurtenant  to  a  Sanyasi,  i.  e.,  one  belonging  to  the 
highest  ASrama  among  the  Brahmans.  Witness  the 
raising  of  the  Thachudaya  Kymal — having  the  power 
of  raising  a  Sudra  to  Brahmanhood  by  their  Mantras 
and  ceremonies,  they  also  claim  the  power  of  hurling 
him  down  from  the  dizzy  height  to  which  they  them¬ 
selves  had  assisted  him  to  ascend.  They  are  held  in 
high  esteem  by  the  Rajas  of  Malabar.  They 
are  a  specially  favoured  people  in*'  Travancore, 
which  is  their  happy  hunting  ground,  their  land  of 
grace.  The  Maharaja  of  Travancore  invites  them 
once  in  six  years  for  the  great  Murajapam  ceremony, 
celebrated  at  the  capital  of  the  State.  The  more  im. 
portant  members  of  the  .community  are  brought  in 
state  with  great  pomp  and  circumstance  as  befits  their 
high  sacerdotal  position  to  Trivandrum,  where  they 
are  sumptuously  entertained  for  a  period  of  56  days. 
Their  comforts  are  scrupulously  attended  to,  and  all 
sorts  of  luxuries  are  provided  for  them.  On  their 
part,  the  Nambutiris  are  .expected  to  offer  up  prayers 
for  the  long  life  of  the  Maharaja  and  for  the  wealth 
and  prosperity  of  the  State.  The  function  is  unique, 
and  costs  the  State  exchequer  between  3  and  4  lakhs 
of  rupees  on  each  occasion.  The  gathering  is  generally 
numerous,  and  no  one  leaves  the  place  at  the  end 
of  the  ceremony  without  being  richer  than  when  he 
went  there. 

Again,  once  during  the  life-time  of  a  Maharaja  of 
Travancore,  he  has  to  solemnise  two  ceremonies  which 
are  held  to  form  part  of  his  coronation.  He  has  once 
to  weigh  himself  against  his  equal  weight  in  gold,  as 
also  to  dip  himself  in  Panchagavyam  or  the  five  pro¬ 
ducts  of  the  cow,  collected  in  a  large  golden  tub  with 
a  lid  of  gold  over  it.  The  gold  in  both  cases  is 
minted  into  beautiful  looking  coins,  and  distributed 
among  the  Naipbutiris.  These  are,  however,  but 


Introd/j  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  121 

special  ceremonies  for  their  benefit,  while  there  are 
other  annual,  monthly  and  daily  celebrations  which 
go  to  fill  their  purses. 

Their  position  in  society  is  not  the  less  unique. 
Claiming  to  be  free-hold  proprietors  of  all  land  in 
Kerala  under  an  alleged  gift  from  Parasu  Rama,  the 
Nambutiris  lord  it  over  all  other  sections  of  the 
population  of  Keraia.  A  Nayar  should  not  go  nearer 
than  six  paces  to  .a  Nambutiri;  lest  his  holiness 
should  be  polluted  by  the  proximity  ;  a  man  of  the 
barber  caste  no  nearer  than  1 2  paces  ;  a  Tiya  36,  and 
so  on.  A  Pulaya,  the  lowest  race,  96  paces  As 
already  observed,  the  Narpbutiris  endeavour  in  every 
respect  to  impress  on  the  other  classes  how  low  these 
are  in  their  view.  They  are  very  punctilious  in  exact¬ 
ing  great  respect  and  reverence  from  those  below 
them.  In  approaching  a  Nambutiri,  one  of  these  classes, 
whether  male  or  female,  must  uncover  to  the  waist  as 
a  token  of  respect.  “  His  person  is  holy  ;  his  direc¬ 
tions  are  commands ;  his  movements  are  processions  ; 
his  meal  is  nectar  ;  he  is  the  holiest  of  human  beings ; 
he  is  the  representative  of  God  on  earth.5’3  One  has 
to  debase  oneself  in  his  presence  in  the  same  degree 
as  he  is  exalted.  Thus  he  should  only  be  addressed 
a  'Jampuran  and  Tirumanass,  i.  e.,  “  Lord  ”  or  “holy 
mind  ”,  while  the  person  addressing  him  styles  him¬ 
self  Atian,  i.  e.,  “  foot  servant  ”  or  4  slave  \  His 
food  is  Ambrosia,  while,  of  the  other,  it  is  but  Kallari, 
gritty  rice  While  his  house  is  Illam  or  Mana, 
the  other  lives  in  a  Kuppa  Madam,  or  44  dung  heap 
While  his  coppers  (chempu  cash)  are  Rupees 
(silver),  the  other’s  Rupees  are  but  coppers. 
While  the  Nambtitiri  44  sports  in  water  ’’  (bathes- 
Nlrattu  Kuli),  the  other  has  44  to  drench  " 
himself  or  to  get  himself  “wet”  (nanayuka).  The 
Nayar’s  cloth  is  but  an  44  old  rag  ”  (Palarituiji,  more 
often  Atithole,  i.  <?.,  covering  bark  or  skin),  even  if 
fresh  from  the  loom,  whereas  the  Nambutiri’s  is 

1.  Sec  footnote  3  on  p.  429  of  the  second  volume  of  this 
work  on  “Malabar  untouchability”. 

2.  Travanccre  Census  Repo* ■*  for  18/4*-'/ J,  t  -  l9I% 


P 


122 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20; 

Parivatfam  “daily  washed  cloth*'.  The  Nsyar  can  only 
treat  himself  to  the  black  water  in  which  rice  has  been 
washed  (Karikadi),  whereas  the  Nambutiri  tastes  his 
“  Ambrosia  ”  (Amrtattu)  ;  while  the  one  calls  his 
sleeping  “  lying  flat  on  the  ground  ”  (Nilampojhuka), 
the  other  enjoys  his  rest  like  a  Raja  (Pallikuruppu). 
The  NambUtiri’s  death  is  called  his  TTppetal,  or  “enter¬ 
ing  fire,”  while  the  'other  “  commits  a  mistake  ”  in 
dying,  “  Kuttam  Pilachu  A  Nambutiri’s  illness 
is  Silsima,  or  Alasyam,  i,  c.t  uneasiness,  weakness, 
while  a  Navar  should  speak  of  his  illness  as  Pafcukal, 
i.  ‘stiff  limbs  A  Narpbutiri  does  not  get  shaved 
but  he  gets  beautified  ‘  Chantam  Chartt  He  is 
never  angry,  but  only  “his  sacred  mind  is  dissatisfied’* 
(Tiruveflaketu.)  He  does  not  clean  his  teeth  ;  he 
cleans  his  “  sacred  pearls  ”  (TirumuthuvelakkukaV 
Nor  does  a  Nambutiri  laugh — not  he  ;  he,  however, 
deigns  some  times  “  to  display  his  superior  pearls,*  * 
and  so  on. 


With  all  this  caste  haughtiness,  arrogance,  and  self- 
assertion,  a  Nambutiri,  who  is  true  to  his  traditions  and 
leads  a  life  of  piety  and  unworldlmess,  and  who  keeps 
himself  strictly  within  the  SSstraic  ordinances  that  regu¬ 
late  his  life,  is  as  a  rule  so  simple,  gentle,  and  benevo¬ 
lent,  that  all  around 'him  do  not  in  the  least  grudge  to 
render  submissive  obedience  to  him. 


Gamesy  recreations  and  pastimes .  Boys  ge¬ 
nerally  have  a  game  called  ParLfukali  with  a  foot  ball 
made  of  coir  or  pack  thread.  This  game  will  be  found 
described  elsewhere.  The  elders  play  at  cards,  also 
chess  or  Chaturanga.  They  have  also  games  known  as 
Elu  Nsyum  Puliyum,  Patinanchu  Nsyum  Puliyum,  Iru- 
pattettu  Nsyum  Puliyum,  i.  e.,  ‘seven  dogs  and  the  leo¬ 
pard,’  ‘fifteen  dogs  and  the  leopard,’  and  ‘twenty-eight 
dogs  and  the  leopard’ — no  doubt  a  relic  of  early  hunt¬ 
ing  days  when  they  must  surely  have  indulged  in  that 
exhilarating  pastime.  A  large  square  is  drawn  on  the 
ground  with  small  ones  within,  described  by  means  of 
lines  drawn  horizontally  and  vertically.  The  leopard 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY*  NOTES  123 

is  represented  by  a  stone  larger  in  size  than  thosfe  that 
represent  the  dogs.  The  play  consists  in  moving  the 
stones  from  one  small  square  to  another  so  that,  while 
the  dogs  endeavour  to  surround  and  corner  the  leo¬ 
pard,  the  latter  attempts  to  dodge  the  former.  The 
success  consists  in  so  bringing  the  dogs  as  to  form  a 
thick  phalanx,  two  abreast,  round  the  leopards.  Evi¬ 
dently  the  play  represents  hunting  the  leopard  by  set¬ 
ting  the  dogs  at  the  beast.  Two  other  kinds  of  pastime 
are  Kampittayam  and  Pakita,  games  at  dice. 

The  Nambutiris  take  delight  in  Kathakaii,  or  the 
national  drama  of  Malabar,  and  the  Ottam  Tuilal,  or  a 
kind  of  ballet  dance.  We  shall  have  to  speak  of  these 
in  our  notice  of  the  Nayars.  It  is  sufficient  to  men¬ 
tion  here  that  they  are  good  connoisseures  of  these 
plays,  which  they  study  well,  and  fastidiously  criticize 
the  slightest  fault  or  failure  in  performance.  They  at¬ 
tend  these  plays  night  after  night,  and  support  and 
patronize  them  to  a  large  extent. 

The  next  important  recreation  of  the  Nambutiris, 
one  to  which  a  religious  turn  is  given,  is  the  Yatra- 
kali  or  SSstranga  Kali  or  Sangha  Kail.  It  is  said  to 
have  had  a  historic  beginning,  and  is  performed  by  the 
Sanghams,  or  associations  composed  of  the  non-vedic 
Nambutiris,  who  took  to  the  profession  of  arms. 
Kshatriyas  also  take  part  in  these  performances.  There 
are  in  Malabar  18  of  such  Sanghams  or  associations, 
and  every  non-vedic  Nambutiri  and  Kshatriya  house¬ 
hold  is  attached  to  one  or  other  of  these  Sanghams. 
The  names  of  the  more  prominent  of  these  associations 
may  be  mentioned: — (i)  KantSran,  (2)  Porkkutattan, 
(3)  Paiiikkutachchattira,  (4)  Nemur,  (5)  Chowaram, 
(6)  Tatjamangalam,  (7)  Velapparampan,  (8)  Kila- 
viniyar,  and  (9)  Patutol. 

Local  chiefs,  no  matter  to  what  caste  they  may 
belong,  are  patrons  of  one  or  more  of  these  associations. 
Each  association  has  one  or  more  temples  presided 
over  by  its  patron  deity.  Their  favourite  divinities  are 
Siva,  Bhadrakali,  Sasfa,  and  Subramajjnya.  There 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

are  three  office-holders  in  each  Sangham,  (D-WSkya- 
vrtti,  (2)  Parisha,  and  (3)  Guru.  The  first  two  are 
hereditary  office-bearers,  and  none  but  an  Othan,  or  one 
of  the  vedic  class,  is  eligible  for  the  first.  The  third 
is  the  Guru  or  instructor.  The  Wakyavftti  is  the 
President  or  chief  of  the  association,  while  the  Parishak- 
karan  holds  charge  of  the  yatrakali  paraphernalia, 
such  as  swords,  shields,  dresses,  etc. 

On  occasions  of  marriages,  masams  or  the  first 
annual  ceremony  after  death,  Upanayanam  (investiture 
of  the  sacred  thread),  Chorunu  (first  rice-giving),  when 
the  ceremony  is  intended  to  be  celebrated  in  a  grand 
style,  these  Sanghams  'are  formally  invited  to  give  a 
performance,  and  they  do  not  object  to  attend  even 
Nayar  houses  for  the  purpose.  In  Travancore,  when  the 
Sanghams  are  invited  to  attend  and  perform  at  a  cere¬ 
mony  in  the  Royal  Household,  the  party  is  formally 
received  with  all  honours  at  the  entrance  by  the 
Maharaja  in  state,  sword  in  hand. 

The  functions  and  performances  of  the  Sanghams, 
when  attending  ceremonies,  are  various  and .  last  for  2 
or  3  days.  They  are: — (1)  Nalupadam  (meaning  liter¬ 
ally  4  steps  or  4  stanzas).  This  is  an  antique  dance  per¬ 
formed  round  a  lighted  brass  lamp  with  the  recitation 
of  certain  stanzas,  supposed  to  have  been  originally 
taught, by  a  Rshi  of  old.  This  takes  place  of  an  even¬ 
ing,  and  is  followed  by  the  recitation  of  a  few  hymns  in 
praise  of  their  household  divinities  and  especially  of 
the  God  Siva,  the  saviour  that  manifested  himself 
at  Trkkariyur.  These  hymns  enshrine  the  legendary 
origin  of  the  whole  function.  The  story  goes  'that  the 
early  Brahman  theocracy  of  Malabar  had  installed  at 
Cranganur  a  Perumal  or  king  called  Bania  Perumal, 
whom  they  had  invited  from  Ba^apura.  During  the 
reign  of  this  prince*  certain  Boudha  (Budhist)  mission¬ 
aries  arrived  in  Malabar  and  succeeded  in  persuading 
him  to  follow  their  tenets.  The  Perumal  required 
the  Brahmans  to  adopt  the  new  religion.  Alarmed  at 
this,  they  retired  in  a  body  to  Trkkariyur,  but 


[To  face  p.  124 


SAM KHAKKAU 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  125 

found  that,  even  in  that  hilly  tract,  they  could  not 
avoid  the  defiling  contact  of  the  Boudhas.  They 
began  to  concert  measures  to  get  the  new-comers 
expelled  from  Kerala,  and  assembled  for  consultation 
the  headmen  of  the  community.  While  thus  engaged, 
a  Mahaj-§hi  (Saint)  named  Jangama  came  there  who, 
on  being  appealed  to,  prescribed  certain  penances. 
The  Brahmans  were  instructed  to  take  out  a  lamp  from 
within  the  temple  to  a  room  built  on  the  Western 
ghaut  of  the  temple  tank,  and  pray  to  Siva  in  terms  of 
a  hymn  which  the  Mahar§hi  taught  them.  This 
hymn  is  called  Nalupada  (four  feet  or  parts  of  a  Sloka), 
said  to  be  extracted  from  the  Sama  Veda.  It  is  in 

9 

praise  of  one  Supreme  Being  (Brahma),  and  is  some¬ 
times  styled  Jangama  ganam,  or  the  song  of  Jangama. 
While  repeating  the  hymn,  they  are  to  circumambulate 
the  lamp  before-mentioned.  The  deity  ordered  to  be 
worshipped  was  Siva  as  he  had  manifested  himself  at 
'ffkkariyur.  The  Brahmans  were  told  that,  if  they 
continued  the  observance  every  day,  they  would  ere 
long  find  a  means  of  getting  rid  of  their  troubles,  and 
would  also  be  able  to  purify  themselves  from  the  sin 
occasioned  by  Sankara  Bhojanam  (mixed  meals)  and 
AspfSya  sparSanam  (touch  of  those  who  are  not  to  be 
touched),  etc.  While  they  were  following  these  instruc¬ 
tions  strictly,  there  arrived  on  the  41st  day  six  learned 
men  from  the  East  Coast  (Para'desal,  whose  names 
were: — Bha^ta  Achsryan,  Bhatta  Ba$an,  Bhatta  Vijayan, 
Bha{{a  Mayuran,  Bhatta  Gopalan  and  Bhatta  Naraya¬ 
nan.  With  the  help  of  these  learned  men,  the  Nambu- 
tiris  were  able  to  convince  the  Perumal  of  the  folly  he 
had  committed;  and  the  Perumal  proposed  a  public  dis¬ 
cussion  between  the  Sastries  newly  arrived  and  the 
Boudha  missionaries,  to  which  the  former  agreed  on 
condition  that,  whichever  party  was  defeated,  should  be 
expelled  from  Kgrala  with  their  tongues  cut  off.  The 
challenge  was  accepted,  and  a  protracted  discussion 
followed  with  the  result  that  in  the  end  the  Boudhas 
were  worsted  and  had  to  be  expelled  from  the  country. 


12G 


LETTERS  FROM  MALAGA R 


|L.  20. 

Ever  after  this,  the  sacred  hymn  of  NslupSda  has 
been  sung  with  the  circumambulation  of  the  lamp 
by  the  Nambupris  for  the  attainment  of  a  variety  of 
objects,  every  one  of  which  they  expect  to  secure  by 
this  means.  It  is  also  said  that,  while  this  sort  of 
worship  was  going  on  at  Trkkariyur,  Siva  Bhutams 
or  saints  or  angels  attending  on  the  God  were  found 
amusing  Pafvati,  with  quips  and  cranks,  and  that  an 
ASarlri  (a  voice,  not  proceeding  from  a  body,  i.  e.,  from 
heaven),  was  heard  to  say  that  such  frolics  must  there¬ 
after  form  part  of  the  worship  of  Siva-  The  story  can¬ 
not  be  dismissed  as  altogether  legendary,  for,  according 
to  Professor  Wilson,  it  refers  to  the  confutation  of  the 
Boudhas  of  Malabar  by  Kumarila  Bhatta,  a  northern 
Brahman.  He  thinks  that  the  event  must  have  occur¬ 
red,  if  at  all,  before  the  time  of  Sankara.  Such 
public  discussions  also  were  not  of  rare  occurrence  at 
the  time;  for  we  have  an  account  of  a  great  public  dis¬ 
putation  the  Chinese  Pilgrim  Huien  Tsiang  had  with 
a  leaxned  Brahman  at  the  great  University  of  Naianda.1 

(2)  The  second  function  performed  by  the 
Sangham  is  in  cooking  and  in  serving  the  meal  for  the 
feast.  Even  the  highest  grade  of  Nambujiris  partake 
of  food  cooked  by  them.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  Nalupadam  was  originally  described  as  a  means  of 
purifying  them  from  the  defilement  caused  by  Sankara 
Bhojanam  or  mixed  eating,  so  that,  after  the  observance 
of  the  NalupSdam,  they  emerge  purified. 

(3)  Towards  evening,  they  assemble  in  a  large 
shed,  erected  for  this  purpose,  and  sing  merry  songs, 
sitting  round  a  copper  cauldron,  one  of  the  cooking 
vessels,  placed  upside  down,  upon  which  they  beat  time 
with  their  hands.  One  of  the  party  then  jumps  up,  takes 
hold  of  one  of  the  feast  spoons  made  of  cocoanut  shell 
with  a  bamboo  handle,  and  runs  up  and  down  acting 
the  part  of  one  possessed. 

(5)  On  the  night  of  the  performance,  they  are 
treated  tor  a  sumptuous  meal,  during  the  course  of 

Wilson' s  History  of  India ,  Vol.  3,  p,  273, 


1. 


Introd.j  Introductory  notes  127 

which  they  sing  in  loud  tones  songs  known  as  Kari- 
slokams,  so  called  because  they  are  devoted  to  the 
description  in  detail  of  how  the  curries  of  a  feast  are  to 
be  cooked  and  served.*  Each  one  calls,  by  means  of 
these  songs,  for  any  particular  preparation  he  likes,  no 
matter  whether  it  is  forthcoming  or  not. 

(5)  This  is  followed  by  a  torchlight  procession 
to  the  Kaiam  or  hall,  where  the  main  performance  is  to 
take  place,  with  the  singing  of  songs  in  the  Vanchip- 
pattu  or  boat-song  metre.  At  this  stage,  they  have 
their  sacred  thread  hanging  vertically  round  the  neck 
(Apavlta),  and  not  diagonally  as  in  the  orthodox 
fashion.  In  the  centre  of  the  hall  there  will  be  placed 
a  well  lighted  brass  lamp,  a  Para  (a  Malabar  measure) 
filled  with  paddy,  a  number  of  coeoanut  bunches,  and 
plantain  fruits  and  flowers.  The  Brahmans  sit  round 
the  lamp  in  a  circle  and  recite  verses  in  praise  of  Siva, 
specially  of  his  manifestation  at  Trkkariy  ur. 

(/>)  Then  follow  dumb-shows  and  feats  of 
swordmanship.  Each  in  turn  exhibits  his  skill  in  the 
use  of  the  sword  and  shield,  the  arms  that  Parasti 
Rama  had  supplied  his  Nambutiri  army  with. 

(7)  At  the  end  of  the  above  show,  the  host  appears 
on  the  stage,  and  the  effects  caused  by  any  evil  spirits 
that  may  have  attached  themselves  to  him  is  sought  to 
be  removed  by  an  exorcism  which  consists  in  waving 
a  lighted  torch  before  his  face,  and  a  prayer  is  made 
to  the  Goddess,  Bhagavati,  to  shower  on  the  host 
health,  wealth,  and  prosperity. 

(8)  The  whole  function  is  then  brought  to  a 
close  with  a  variety  entertainment.  Comic  and 
humorous  performances  are  given.  There  is  much 
mimicry,  cracking  of  jokes,  recital  of  droll  stories, 
etc.  Figures  in  peculiar  dress  appear,  and  their  quips 
and  cranks  keep  the  audience  laughing.  A  local  chief 
in  the  person  of  an  oddly  dressed  figure  is  .represented 
on  the  stage.  He  is  called  Kymal,  and  the  Nambutiris 
make  mock  submission  to  him,  and  twit  him  with-  the 


ii>8  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

oddities  of  his  rule  over  the  neighbourhood.  The  one 
great  blemish  that  mars  the  otherwise  innocent  enter¬ 
tainment  is  the  coarse  and  indecent  element  that  is 
present  in  many  items  of  the  performance.  At 
the  end  of  the  performance,  invited  guests  give  away 
customary  presents  to  the  performers.  Towards  early 
morning  the  host  oerforms  what  is  called  Vachchunamas- 
ksram.  The  Brahmans  that  compose  the  association 
sit  together  on  the  ground  in  a  circle,  and  the  host 
places  before  them  the  fee  due  to  the  association,  makes 
three  rounds  of  the  assembled  Brahmans,  and  finally 
performs  Sa§ht3ngam  (prostration),  and  receives  their 
blessings. 

As  observed  by  a  recent  writer,  “few  people  whose 
real  home  is  not  Malabar  will  be  able  to  appreciate  and 
enjoy  the  play.  A  great  East-Coast  Pandit  (we  believe 
it  was  Uddanda  Sastrikal),  once  in  the  employ  of  the 
Zamorin  of  the  day,  when  asked  about  the  merits  of 
the  performance,  is  reported  to  have  said,  “it  is  the 
mental  aberration  of  the  people  of  Malabar. 

Elamattkali,  or  the  7th  amusement,  is  another 
source  of  recreation  enjoyed  by  the  Naipbutiris.  It  is 
so  called  because  of  its  alleged  introduction  by  the  7th 
Nambutiri  GrSma  in  Keraia.  It  is  but  the  yatjrakali  in 
miniature,  shorn  of  the  religious  accompaniments  of  the 
latter.  T(iere  is  the  sitting  round  the  lamp  and  recital 
of  songs  in  praise  of  Siva,  but  the  performers  need,  not 
necessarily  be  Brahmans,  nor  need  there  be  any  set 
religious  formalities  observed.  The  party  round  the 
lamp  simulate  the  proceedings  of  a  court  of  justice, 
and  hold  a  mock  trial.  The  presiding  judge  is  known 
as  Kallur  Nayar,  who  will  be  assisted  by  a  Bhattajiri. 
There  are  two  who  serve  as  bailiffs  to  execute  the 
judge’s  order.  Then  follows  an  interrogation  by  one 
of  the  party  addressed  to  another  who  has  to  answer  it. 
It  is  in  fact  a  competition  in  quick-wittedness  and 
memory  held  between  two  parties,  into  which  the  as¬ 
sembly  will  have  been  previously  divided.  The  questions 
and  answers  are  in  the  form  of  verses  sung  to  long 


Introd.l  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  129 

drawn  tunes.  A  specimen  of  a  question  and  answer 
may  be  given  here.  The  interrogator  asks  Efijila, 
Efitinkol,  Efipnkaya.The  interrogated  answers  Kantila, 
Tskkol,  SukshikkSya.  It  will  be  observed  that  the 
second  portion  of  each  word  in  the  question  and  answer 
correspond.  Beyond  this,  the  answer  is  altogether  mean¬ 
ingless  and  absurd  with  reference  to  the  question.  The 
query  is  Efit-ila — what  leaf  ?  Entin-kol — what  stick  or 
twig  ?  Entin-Kai* — what  fruit?  The  answer  is  Kantilla, 
has  missed.  Ta-kkol,  keys;  Sukshikkaya,  carelessness. 
When  put  together,  the  answer  would  stand  thus:(I  have) 
missed  (my)  keys  (because  of  my)  carelessness,  which 
of  course  is  no  answer  to  the  question  (of  what)  leaf, 
(of  what)  twig, (of  what)  fruit  (were  you  speaking)  ?  The 
answer  being  absurd,  the  person  answering  is  reckoned 
to  have  committed  an  offence.  The  questioner  would 
then  address  the  President  in  these  terms:  “What 
punishment  should  be  awarded  to  Morppala  Kesavnn 
who  has  committed  this  offence  in  the  presence  of  this 
assembly  composed  of  Kallur  Nsyar,  Bhattatiri  and 
representatives  of  the  64  Gramams  (^villages),  O  Kallur 
Nayar?”  The  President  would  then  solemnly  pronounce 
sentence  by  saying,  “Let  him  be  raised  up.’’  and  the 
bailiffs  would  at  once  pull  up  the  offender  who  should 
then  play  the  fool.  When  he  has  finished  entertaining 
the  assembly  with  his  fooleries,  a  question  of  a  similar 
nature  as  above  is  asked,  and  another  comes  out  with 
an  equally  absurd  answer,  and  the  same  process  is 
gone  through  again.  In  this  manner,  each  one  of  the 
party  has  to  perform  some  part  before  the  play  ends. 
Typical  characters  are  represented  on  the  stage,  and 
the  assembly  is  kept  in  a  constant  roar  of  laughter. 
The  characters  introduced  generally  are  Ittikandappan 
Nsyar,  Prakkaf,  Mutti  or  old  woman,  Pattar  or  East 
Coast  Brahman,  Nambutiri,  PandSram  and  so  on. 

Religion.  The  Nambutiris  are  vedic  Brahmans. 
In  their  migration  from  the  north,  they  seem  to  have 
brought  whith  them  the  religion  of  the  Vedas.  They 

Q 


130  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

are  strict  observers  of  the  injunctions  contained  in  the 
Srutis,  Smrtis,  Grhya  Sutras.  There  is  little  or  no 
sectarian  differences  among  them.  Though  there  are 
Saivite  and  Vaishnavite  Nambutiris  among  the  commu¬ 
nity,  there  is  not  that  bigotted  exclusiveness  which  is 
characteristic  of  sectarian  differences  on  the  East  Coast. 
The  Saivite  worships  Vishnu  as  much  as  ,  the  Vishna- 
vite  would  worship  Siva.  They  observe  almost  all 
the  religious  ceremonies  of  the  East  Coast  Brahmans, 
of  course  with  local  colouring.  All  the  Puranic  deities 
are  devoutly  worshipped.  They  are  at  the  same  time 
no  strangers  to  the  wonderful  teachings  of  the  renoun- 
ed  Vedantist  Sankara,  who  was  himself  a  Nambutiri 
Brahman.  For  all  that,  the  religion  of  the  Nambutiris 
must  be  admitted  to  have  been  influenced  considerably 
by  its  Dravidian  surroundings.  With  this  difference,  it 
stands  in  strong  contrast  with  the  religion  of  the  masses, 
which  is  but  an  elevated  form  of  the  early  Dravidian 
religion  refined  and  ennobled  by  an  intense  admixture 
of  Brahmanism.  The  life  of  the  Nambutiris  is  but  one 
round  of  religious  observances.  He  has  but  little  time  to 
spare  for  worldly  concerns,  if  he  only  keeps  up. to  the  life 
sketched  for  him.  While  believing  in  the  highest  form  of 
Vedantism,  his  religion  is  elastic  enough  to  take  with¬ 
in  it  the  lowest  forms  of  animism,  fetishism,  ancestor- 
worship,  and  what  not.  All  things  animate  or  inani¬ 
mate,  organic  or  inorganic,  are  believed  to  be  perme¬ 
ated  by  the  divine  spirit  and  are  therefore  objects  of 
veneration.  Thus  animals,  birds,  trees,  plants,  and 
flowers  are  all  worshipped.  The  cow,  the  snake,  the 
Brahmani  kite,  the  Tulasi  plant  (ocymum  sanctum) 
the  banyan  tree  (ficus  religiosa),  the  Bilva  or  Kuvala 
(Aigle  marmelos),  the  lotus  flower,  are  all  worshipped 
with  fervour.  The  Navagrahas  or  the  nine  planets, 
and  among  them  the  Sun  and  the  Moon  specially,  are 
worshipped  almost  daily. 

Rules  of  good  conduct . — The  following  are  a  few 
rules  of  good  conduct  prescribed  by  Sankara  Smj-ti 


I  ntrod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  131 

for  the  Nambutiris  to  observe  and  they  afford  us  an 
insight  into  their  ideals  of  life  and  good  manners: — 

1.  He  who  is  anxious  of  his  own  welfare  should 
not  insult  others. 

2.  Do  not  jeer  at  those  who  have  an  organ  want¬ 
ing,  or  who  have  an  abnormal  addition  of  one,  or  are 
deformed,  and  those  who  belong  to  low  castes,  or  are 
illiterate,  or  are  afflicted  with  diseases. 

3.  Brahmans  should  never  serve  low  class  men, 
nor  should  they  abandon  their  study  of  the  Vedas. 

4.  Your  dress,  your  whole  outward  appearance, 
should  be  suited  to  your  position  in  respect  of  caste, 
the  particular  stage  of  life,  (such  as  Brahmachari  Ssra- 
marn)  your  age,  nobility  of  birth,  wealth,  fame,  time, 
place  and  circumstances  ;  you  should  reject  all  that  is 
despicable. 

5.  Be  constantly  pondering  over  the  meaning 

of  the  texts  of  the  SSstras. 

• 

6.  If  you  can  help  it,  do  not  wear  old,  dirty,  or 
torn  clothes. 

7.  Never  say  ‘may’  to  those  who  beg  alms  of  you. 

8.  Do  not  learn  the  language  of  mlechhas,  i.  e., 
those. who  speak  a  provincial  dialect  or  a  language 
other  than  Sanskrit. 

9.  Do  not  look  at  one’s  own  excrement. 

10.  Do  not  look  at  your  own  image  seen  reflect* 
ed  in  oil  or  in  water. 

11.  Do  not  look  at  the  face  of  your  angry 'Guru, 
preceptor. 

12.  Do  not  see  your  wife  while  she  is  eating, 

13.  Do  not  gaze  at  a  woman  who  is  nude,  or  one 
who  is  in  her  menses,  cr  one  without  her  bodice  on. 

14.  Do  not  look  at  the  private  parts  of  female 
children,  or 

15.  On  the  copulation  of  animals. 

16.  Do  not  throw  impure  matter  into  the  £1  rc . 


132  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

17.  Do  not  warm  your  feet  over  a  blazing  fire. 

18.  Do  not  clean  your  feet  with  Darbha,  holy 
grass. 

19*  Do  not  place  your  foot  on  a  bell  metal  vessel. 

20.  Do  not  place  one  foot  over  the  other. 

21.  Do  not  break  clods  of  earth. 

22.  Do  not  draw  lines  on  the  ground. 

23.  Never  tear  your  hair  or  nails  with  your  teeth. 

24.  Avoid  all  kinds  of  gambling. 

25.  Do  not  wear  clothing  or  shoes  already  worn 
by  another* 

26.  Do  not  wear  a  sacred  thread  which  has  once 
snapped.  The  sacred  thread  should  always  be  worn 
in  the  prescribed  manner. 

27.  Never  serve  food  to  a  Sudra  before  you  have 
yourself  partaken  of  it. 

28.  Rice  offered  to  the  gods  and  to  the  manes 
should  never  be  given  to  a  Sudra. 

29.  You  should  not  teach  a  Sudra  letters. 

30.  Do  not  eat  rice  prepared  with  sesamum. 

31.  A  Brahman  should  never  act  as  the  Purohit 
or  priest  of  a  Sudra. 

32.  Do  not  speak  to  a  woman  who  is  in  her  men¬ 
ses. 

33.  Do  not  wake  those  who  are  sleeping. 

34.  If  you  see  a  cow  grazing  on  another’s  land, 
do  not  drive  it  away,  nor  inform  the  owner  of  the  land 
of  the  fact- 

35.  Do  not  remove  a  calf  which  is  being  suckled. 

36.  Do  not  live  in  a  country  governed  by  a  Sucjra, 

37.  Do  not  reside  in  a  place  full  of  men  not  in¬ 
clined  to  charity,  or  where  there  are  no  good  doctorsj 
or  where  you  cannot  get  water* 


133 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

38.  Never  do  any  unnecessary  act- 

39.  Never  utter  obscene  words,  nor  do  a  dis¬ 
honest  act. 

40.  Do  not  speak  ill  of  thyself  or  use  words 
which  may  wound  the  feelings  of  another. 

41*  Take  due  time  for  your  morning,  mid-day 
and  evening  prayers. 

42.  Do  not  play  with  sharp  edged  weapons. 

43.  Do  not  touch  your  ears,  eyes,  etc.,  unneces¬ 
sarily. 

44.  Do  not  touch  your  impure  organs  unless  it 
be  to  wash  them  clean. 

45.  An  act  which  is  perfectly  legitimate  in  itself 
and  which  is  sanctioned  by  the  SSstras  as  well,  should 
be  avoided  if  the  people  of  the  country  are  against  it. 

46.  Prayers  should  be  recited  and  sacrifices  offer¬ 
ed  on  sacred  days  such  as  SankrSnti,  i.e.,  the  first  day 
of  the  month,  the  new  moon  day,  etc.,  for  obtaining  ab¬ 
solution  from  sins. 

Such  are  in  short  a  few  rules  of  good  conduct 
(Sadachsram).  In  other  matters,  act  as  men  of  virtue 
and  righteousness  generally  do. 

Concluding  remarks .  The  Nambutiris  are  a 
simple,  polite,  hospitable  race,  leading  an  inoffensive 
and  religious  life.  The  prayers  and  sacrifices  they  offer 
are  not  exclusively  for  their  own  benefit,  their  office  in 
this  world  being  to  lead  an  intensely  religious  life  for 
the  salvation  of  themselves  as  well  as  the  other  classes 
that  inhabit  Ma/abar-  The  characteristic  features  of 
the  Narpbutiri  have  been  described  to  be  “  his  faith 
in  God  and  resignation  to  His  will,  hospitality  to 
strangers,  scrupulous  veracity,  punctiliousness  as  re¬ 
gards  the  ordinances  prescribed,  and  extreme  gentility 
in  manners  In  regard  to  his  anxious  fidelity  to 
truth,  it  has  been  observed  that  “  h^  rarely  gives  a 


134  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |X.  20. 

decided  answer,  being  fearful  he  should  state  what  is 
not  exactly  the  truth  ”.  “  Whatever  be  their  faults’’, 

observes  Mr.  Elie  Reclus,  “  the  Nambutiris  have  at 
least  one  virtue,  that  of  perfect  veracity.  They  answer 
questions  put  to  them  with  great  deliberation,  being 
always  scrupulous  to  tell  the  exact  truth  in  all  res¬ 
pects”.  Absorbed  in  their  religious  exercises,  they 
are  innocent  of  all  worldly  guile  and  not  seldom  fall 
victims  to  intrigue  and  fraud.  They  are  loath  to  do 
harm  to  others  and  never  indulge  in  vituperation  or 
even  the  use  of  harsh  language.  Till  of  late,  they  lived 
in  the  most  amicable  relations  with  their  tenantry.  A 
degree  of  tension  between  the  two  is  however  observ¬ 
able  to  be  growing  as  the  result  of  stagnation  on  one 
side  and  progress  on  the  other.  They  have  not  changed 
with  the  times — a-t  any  rate  for  the  better.  Indeed  the 
modern  Nambutiri  is  “not  the  unadulterated  specimen 
of  goodness,  purity,  and  piety  that  he  once  was  ”,  but 
the  Nambutiris  have  not  so  far  degenerated  as  to  merit 
the  unsympathetic  critcism,  that  “  they  are  arrogant 
and  oppressive,  vindictive  and  grasping,”  that  they 
will  turn  aside  sooner  than  tread  on  a  worm  or  any  other 
insect,  but  think  the  murder  of  a  slave  no  crime,  should 
he  provoke  his  death  by  too  near  an  approach  to  one 
of  their  bigotted  race,  or  by  showing  them  any  im¬ 
pertinence  ”.1  We  have  a  much  more  true  and  cor¬ 
rect  account  of  the  religious  Brahmans  from 
Mr.  Forbes  who,  writing  in  the  end  of  the  18th  cen¬ 
tury,  observes  that  they  have  c<  the  absolute  and  entire 
management  of  everything  relating  to  religion.  Oc¬ 
cupied  by  no  secular  concerns,  they  spend  their  days 
under  the  sacred  groves  of  their  temples  in  supersti¬ 
tious  ceremonies  and  listless  indolence,  or  the  study  of 
the  sacred  volumes,  treatises  on  astrology,  medicine 
and  fabulous  legends ;  they  inculcate  benevolence  to 
man,  and  kindness  to  the  animal  creation,  and  are 

1.  Dr.  Day,  p.  306. 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


135 


reverenced  by  the  inferior  tribes,  who  swear  by  their 
heads  and  treat  them  with  filial  affection, Mr.  Grose, 
writing  about  the  same  period,  contrasts  the  Brahmans 
of  other  parts  of  India  with  those  of  Malabar,  and  re¬ 
marks  that  though,  in  Malabar  they  “are  in  the  same 
or  greater  esteem  and  have  more  the  lead  of  affairs, 
they  retain  more  of  the  humanity  and  disinterestedness 
of  their  primitive  institution.”2  There  is  nothing  to 
induce  one  to  believe  that,  between  the  time  of  Messrs. 
Forbes  and  Grose  and  that  of  Dr.  Day,  a  change,  in¬ 
finitely  for  the  worse,  had  come  over  the  community  to 
justify  the  observations  of  the  latter.  We  may  close 
our  account  of  the  Nambutiris  with  the  following 
quotation  from  Mr.  Fawcett.  “  The  moral  element 
certainly  enters  largely  into  the  life  of  the  Nambutiri. 
And,  if  it  be  true,  as  there  seems  little  reason  to  doubt, 
that  a  religion  may  be  classed  high  or  low  according 
as  it  does  or  does  not  influence  the  morals  of  a  people, 
we  must  class  the  religion  pf  the  Nambutiri  high,  for 
his  whole  life,  his  moral  life  we  shall  say,  is  dominated 
by  it-  A  peace-loving  people,  and  devoted  to  their  re¬ 
ligion,  the  Nambutiris  are  beyond  doubt.  Long  may 
they  remain  as  they  are,  untouched  by  what  we  hear 
called  “  progress  ”,  but  which  is  really  change — for 
better  or  worse,  who  knows  ?  Long  may  they  be  what 
they  are,  the  only  undisturbed  vestiges  of  Vedic  Brah¬ 
manism”.3  Indeed  it  is  not  possible  to  echo  the 
sentiments  of  Mr.  Fawcett  all  through-  All  the  same 
there  is  much  that  is  loveable  in  the  character  of  the 
Naipbujiris. 

One  can,  however,  scarcely  admire  the  moral  con¬ 
duct  of  a  class  that,  by  enforcing  celibacy  on  its  junior 
members, allows  these  to  marry  the  women  of  another  class 
bound  to  them  by  ties  of  absolute  dependency,  religious 
and  social.  The  result  of  this  is  ruinous  to  themselves. 
The  community  that  abstains  from  marriage  amongst 


1.  Vol.  I,  p.  236. 

2.  Vol.  I,  p.  242. 

3.  P.  85. 


136  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  IX.  20.. 

themselves  isdestined  to  become  extinct  sooner  or 
later  and  as  a  tnatter  of  fact  successive  decinnial 
censuses  show  their  numbers  steadily  diminishing. 
The  haughty  aloofness  so  characteristic  of  the  old- 
world  Nambutiri  stands  in  the  path  of  his  progress- 
The  Nambutiri  has  yet  to  realise  full  that  the  world 
around  him  is  changing  and  that  he  alone  stagnates. 
It  is,  indeed,  gratifying  to  note  that  the  more  far-seeing 
members  of  the  community  are  beginning  to  realise  their 
forlorn  position  and  are  trying  to  mend  matters  before 
it  is  altogether  too  late.  They  have  recently  formed 
themselves  into  associations  to  consider  the  best  means 
of  breaking  through  old  effete  customs  and  place  them¬ 
selves  in  the  path  of  progress.  The  desirability  of  all 
male  members  of  an  Iilom  marrying  in  the  community } 
the  cutting  short  of  exhorbitant  demands  as  dowry  from 
the  bride’ s  father,  the  English  education  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  community,  the  cancelling  of  the 
prohibition  against  Nambutiri  females  travelling  by 
railway — all  these  and  more  have  come  under  the  con. 
sideration  of  a  large  section  of  the  rising  generation. 
A  few  of  the  more  prominent  members  of  the  commu¬ 
nity  have  taken  themselves  with  commendable  alacrity 
to  agricultural  and  industrial  pursuits,  and  the  profes¬ 
sion  of  trade  is  also  not  being  neglected.  They  are, 
slowly  realising  the  truth  of  the  adage  that  ‘Union  is 
strength’  and  they  have  founded  associations  such  as  the 
‘  Kerala  Jenmi  Sabha  ’  and  started  organs  of  their  own 
such  as  the  ‘  Jenmi 1  and  the  “  Yogakshemam  ”.  No 
doubt  the  outlook  for  the  future  is  not  altogether  with¬ 
out  hope. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

III.  The  Kshetriyas  of  Malabar. 


137 


The  K§he{Hyas  of  Malabar  do  not  form  a  large 
community.  They  are  said  to  have  been  brought  into 
Malabar  by  Parasu  Rama.  According  to  the  Keraia 
Mahafmyam,  Rama  is  said  to  have  brought  certain 
K§hetriya  families  of  the  Soma  Vamsa  or  lunar  race 
from  Aryapura,  whence  he  brought  his  first  colony  of 
Brahmans.  At  present  the  Kshetriyas  live  scattered 
throughout  the  country  from  Trivandrum  in  the  south 
to  Cannanore  in  the  north. 

The  Malayaii  Kshetriyas  are  known  in  the  country 
by  various  names,  the  most  comprehensive  one  being 
Kovil  or  Koyil,  meaning  a  “Royal  residence”,  as  well 
as  a  temple.  The  theory  is  that  these  Kshetriyas  were 
originally  brought  into  Kerala  for  the  purpose  of  ruling 
over  tracts  assigned  to  temples  by  the  Brahmans,  and 
to  supervise  and  govern  the  pagodas  and  other  reli¬ 
gious  institutions.  The  Raja  of  Cochin,  one  of  the 
prominent  K§hetriyas  of  Malabar,  still  describes  him¬ 
self  officially  in  kanom  deeds  as  “Gangadharatiruko* 
viladhiksrikai  ”,  i*  e.,  ‘Gangadhara  the  prosperous 
manager  of  pagodas’,  a  circumstance  that  lends  colour 
to  the  theory  of  the  Kerala  Mahatmyam.  The  Portu¬ 
guese  historians  give  the  name  of  the  reigning  Raja  of 
Cochin  on  the  arrival  of  Vasco  de  Gama  in  Malabar  as 
U$Qi  Rama  Koil  Tirumulpad. 

The  titles  used  in  addressing  them  are  : — 

(1)  for  male,  Tampuran  also  Koyil  Tampuran; 
for  female,  Tampuratti. 

(2)  Tampan;  Tampayi,  Tampatti. 

(3)  Tirupad  also  Kovil  Tirupad  or  more  correct* 
ly  Tirumulpad;  Nampishtatiri. 

(4)  Bha^darattil  or  Pandarattil. 

Of  these  terms  the  first,  Tampuran,  is  a  compound 
of  Tam-f  piran,  meaning  liege  lord,  and  the  same  idea 
also  pervades  the  other  terms. 

The  Travancore  Census  Report  points  out  that 
there  is  an  old  Sanskrit  verse  which  describes  8  classes 

R 


338  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

of  Kshetriyas  as  occupying  Keraia  from  very  early 
times,  namely  (1)  Bhupala  or  Maha  Raja,  (2)  Rajaka 
or  Rajas,  (3)  Koviltampurans,  (4)  Purvan  or 
'J'ampan,  (5)  Sripurogama  or  Tirumulpad,  (6)  Bha$- 
dari  or  Pandarattil,  (7)  Tirumulpat,  (8)  ChS{a  or 
Samanta.  Of  this  list,  the  5th  are  waiters  at  the 
Raja’s  Palace,  meaning  that  they  are  upper  sub¬ 
ordinates  serving  the  first  and  second  classes,  while 
the  7th  perform  udvahaka  or  wedding  ceremonies  of 
Nayars.  Both  these  are  however  identical.  Mr.  Logan 
speaks  of  the  Kottayam  and  Parappanad  chieftains  as 
having  been  Rajaputs  or  foreign  Kshetriyas,  and 
observes  that  the  former  of  these  chieftains  used 
sometimes  to  be  called  the  Pufafiat  (foreign)  Rajas. 

Personal  names  : — 

Koil  Tampurans— males — Raja  Raja  Varma, 

Rama  Varma, 

Kerala  Varma, 

Ravi  Varma, 

Tampurans .  In  the  Cochin  Royal  family, 
the  first  name  above  given  is  not  used,  but  another, 
Goda  Varma,  comes  in.  In  Travancore,  however,  in 

9 

additionjo  the  ordinary  names  prevalent  among  Koil 
Tampurans,  names  such  as  Marttanda  Varma,  Adijya 
Varma,  Udaya  Varma  are  also  used.  It  will  be  noticed 
that,  though  the  Keraia  Mahatmyam  tells  us  that  the 
Kshetriyas  introduced  into  Malabar  by  Para$u  Rama 
belong  to  the  lunar  race,  the  personal  names  borne 
by  their  descendants  now  indicate  their  descent 
from  the  solar  line.  Almost  all  those  names  with  the 
exception  of  Rama  and  Keraia  are  those  of  the  Sun. 
The  suffix  Varma  denotes  that  they  are  K§hejriyas  just 
as  the  term  Sarma  denotes  a  Brahman.  Of  the  two 
exceptions  the  name  Rama  was  borne  by  the  most 
prominent  of  the  solar  line,  Sri  Ramachandra  of  the 
Ramaya^a,  an  incarnation  of  Vishriu,  while  Keraia  is 
but  another  name  of  the  Malabar  country. 

Tampans  and  Tirumulpads •  These  use  the  same 
names  as  other  Kshetriyas,  The  title  of  Varma  is 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


139 


Introd.] 

uniformly  added  to  their  names. 

Koil  Tampurans — females — Amba,  Ambika, 

Ambaiika. 

Tampurans — females — In  Travancore-r-Lakshmi, 

Parvati,  Gouri. 

In  Cochin — Amba,  Ambika, 

•  '  •  ' 

Ambalika. 

Tampans  and  Tirumulpads — females — In  addition 
to  those  in  use  among  Koil  Tampurans,  the  name  of 
“  Subhadra  ”  also  is  used. 

The  usual  names  adopted  as  nicknames  in  house¬ 
hold  conversation  are  : — 

Koil  Tampurans — males — Kuttan,  Kunnnunrii, 

Cherunrii  and  Cochappan. 

Tampurans. 

In  Travancore — males — Kun'haru,  .Kunnappan, 

K  unnoman,  Kunnu$ni  Uijrii, 
and  Ampu. 

In  Cochin — do — Kochunini,  Kunnuijni,  Kunniki- 

{avu,  Kochaniyan,  Kunfian, 
Komar. 

Tampans  and  Tirumulpads  also  use  the  above 

names* 

Koil  Tampurans. — Female,— Kunnikutti,  Kochu* 

kunni,  Kunnikkavu,  Ikkavu  and 

Ammu. 

• 

The  rest  use  the  following  names.  Kavu,  Ikkavu, 

Kufinipiiia,  Mamku,  Ikku, 
Kunji,  etc. 

Koil  Tampurans . —  Tradition  says  that  they  are 
descendants  of  Rajaput  emigrants  from  the  north  who 
had  originally  settled  in  and  near  Beypore  in  South 
Malabar.  It  would  appear  that  about  300  M.  E.  a  few 
of  them  were  invited  to  settle  in  Travancore  and  form 
marital  relationship  with  the  female  members  of  the 
Royal  house  of  Venad  or  Travancore.  These  then 
resided  at  AtfFingal  in  the  Cherayinkll  Taluk  and  the 
new-comers  were  provided  with  residence  at  KiiimanUr 
6  miles  from  Atffingal.  About  963  M.E.,  a  fresh 


140 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20 


colony  of  Koil  Tampurans  arrived  in  Travancore, 
having  run  away  to  escape  the  oppression  of  Tippu 
Sulfan.  The  then  sovereign  of  Travancore  welcomed 
them  and  accommodated  them  in  the  palace  of  the 
Tekkenkur  Raja  at  Changanass^ri,  who  had  not  long 
before  been  subdued  by  Travancore.  A  few  years 
after,  this  colony  divided  itself  into  different  branches 
and  spread  itself  within  central  Travancore. 

Tampurans .  Those  resident  in  Travancore  form 
an  endogamous  community,  and  live  in  7  families,  dis¬ 
tinguished  by  the  localities  they  live  in,  viz.,  Mavgli- 
kkara,  Ejjijakat,  Mariapilli,  etc-  They  are  all  related 
to  one  another  more  or  less  closely,  and  have  com¬ 
munity  of  pollution.  They  belonged  originally  to 
Kolattufrad,  and  most  of  them  are  but  recent  immigrants 
to  Travancore,  having  run  away  from  Tippu  SultSn,1 
But  one  family,  that  of  Putuppilli  Kovilakam,  had  al¬ 
ready  come  to  Travancore  in  the  5th  century  M.  E.,  to 
supply  members  for  adoption  to  the  Travancore  Royal 
Family  which  was  then  about  to  become  extinct.  It  is 
from  these  houses  that  the  Travancore  Royal  line  is 

kept  up  by  occasional  adoption. 

#* 

In  Cochin,  letting  the  reigning  family  alone,  a 
few  of  the  more  important  families,  among  Tampurans, 
may  be  mentioned: — 

(1)  Chaliur  and  Vatakkekovilakam,  closely  re¬ 
lated  with  the  Royal  house  of  Cochin,  form 
one  group  having  community  of  pollution- 

fa)  PatifiMtftfyetatfu  Swarupam  (the  house  of  the 
CrSnganur  Raja)  and  Airur  SwarUpam 
form  such  another  group. 

7'ampans  and  Tirumulpads . — ^ampan  is  but 
another  form  of  'fampuran.  It  is  said  that,  when  these 
were  divested  of  their  ruling  power  by  the  Iiaya{a{Ju 
Swarupam,  they  fell  from  the  status  of  Tampurans 
into  that  of  Tampans.  The  Tirumulpads  seem  not  to 
have  had  any  territorial  sway  as  such.  But  most  of 
the  Jampurans  or  Rajas  are  of  this  class. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  141 

The  members  of  each  of  the  above  classes  of 
K§hetriyas  are  held  to  have  community  of  pollution,  so 
that  there  can  be  no  marital  union  between  them.  In 
Cochin,  all  the  houses  belong  to  Viswamitra-gotra 
though  the  Sastras,  it  would  seem,  deny  gotra  to  the 
Kshetriyas,  who  were  to  adopt  the  gotra  of  their 
purohits.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  titular  Raja  of 
Pantaiam>  who  claims  to  be  descended  from  KulaSe- 
khara  of  Madura,  is  a  follower  of  Bhargava  gotra. 
According  to  the  Travancore  Census  Report,  “The  Rajas, 
like  the  Koil  TampurSns,  belong  to  the  Yajur  Vgda 
section  of  Dvijas,  but  follow  the  Sutra  laid  down  by 
BoudhSyana.  Their  gotra  is  that  of  Bhargava,  i.  e., 
of  Paras u  Rama,  the  uncompromising  Brahman  of  the 
Hindu  Purina.”1  It  would  also  appear  that*  even  with 
the  difference  of  gotra,  scriptural  marriage  between 
these  and  any  other  Kshetriya  of  Viswamitra  gotra  is 
not  allowed.  Tradition  and  the  Kerala  Mahatmyam 
say  that  the  "Malabar  K$hetriyas  are  the  progeny  of 
K$hetriya  women  consorting  with  Brahmans,  so  that 
they  have  to  be  classed  as  a  Samkara  or  hybrid  caste 
as  known  to  the  Sastras,  wherein  such  progeny  is  styled 
Moordhavasikshtcm,  i.  e.,  son  of  a  Brahman  and  a 
K§hetriya.  But,  as  between  such  Kshetriyas  as  have 
no  community  of  pollution,  the  Nayar  system  of  union, 
known  as  Sambanddham,  is  not  prohibited.  Any  sexual 
relation  on  the  part  of  males  with  women  of  superior 
caste,  or  with  those  below  a  Nayar  proper,  and  of 
females  with  men  of  a  caste  inferior  to  theirs,  will  entail 
excommunication  from  caste. 

The  Kshetriyas  of  Malabar  take  after  the  Naipbu* 
{iris  so  far  as  their  religious  ceremonies,  ablutions, 
habits  of  cleanliness,  discipline,  food  and  drink  are  con. 
cerned.  They  have  the  Sarpskaras  as  with  the 
Brahmans.  The  Upafiayana  or  the  investiture  with  the 
sacred  thread  takes  place  in  the  16th  year  and,  along 
with  it  Chouiam  or  tonsure  which  always  precedes  the 


x.  P.  289* 


142  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  ]L.  20. 

investiture.  The  priest  at  the  same  time  initiates  the 
boy  into  the  Gayatri  mantra  which  he  is  entitled  to 
repeat  only  10  times  over  on  each  occasion.  Other 
hymns  necessary  for  the.  performance  of  daily  oblations 
are  also  taught,  but  not  the  Veda  as  a  whole.  With 
the  Koil  TampurSns,  SamSvaftana  or  the  close  of  the 
pupilary  stage  is  performed  on  the  15th  day  after  Upa- 
nayanam.  After- this  the  boy  undergoes  the  mock 
journey  to  Benares,  but  is  stopped  and  reminded  of 
the  pharma  or  duty  of  a  Kshetriya,  i.  e.,  to  protect  and 
govern.  He  is  then  given  a  sword,  symbolic  of  his 
function  in  society.  With  the  TampurSns  or  Rajas, 
Samavartana  takes  place  on  the  4th  day,  and  instruc¬ 
tion  in  arms  follows.  With  the  TirumulpSds  and 
Tampans,  the  Samavartana  comes  on  any  auspicious 
day  after  the  4th  day  of  investiture  with  the  sacred 
cord,  when  he  makes  obeisance  to  his  elders  and  his 
priest,  and  receives  their  blessing  and  the  karanavar  or 
the  senior  male  member  of  the  family  hands  him  a 
sword  in  token  of  his  profession,  that  of  military 
service.  They  are  entitled  tc  hear  portions  of  the 
Vedas  read  to  them. 

9 

Marriage.  With  the  females,  this  is  an  essential 
ceremony,  which,  after  all,  is  only  a  mere  formality 
without  the  legal  or  social  incidents  of  marriage  fol¬ 
lowing.  Its  meaninglessness  is  accentuated  by  the  fact 
that  the  couple  need  not  and  cannot  claim  as  a  matter 
of  right  to  consort  together.  The  essential  pre-re¬ 
quisites  of  scriptural  marriage  are  also  dispensed  with. 
No  regard  is  paid  to  the  Gotra,  Sutra,  or  Chara$a 
of  the  so-  called  bridegroom,  nor  are  the  horoscopes  of 
the  couple  consulted.  The  ceremony  is  gone  through 
between  the  ages  7  and  14.  It  lasts  for  4  days.  The 
bridegroom  is  chosen  from  among  Nambutiris  and 
Arya  Pattars»  In  the  Cochin  Royal  family,  the  choice 
is  confined  to  Nambufiris.  At  the  end  of  the  ceremony, 
the  bridegroom  is  given  a  fee  called  Vara  Dek§hi$a. 
The  same  bridegroom  can  perform  the  office  to  more 
than  one  girl.  The  Naipbu$iris  act  as  Purohifs.  One 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  143 

item  in  the  programme  of  marriage  of  a  Koil  'J'ampu- 
rStji  is  called  Diksha  Virippu,  which  consists  in  the 
bride  being  confined  to  a  special  room,  in  which  is 
spread  a  white  cloth  with  a  carpet  over  it  on  which  she 
has  to  sit.  In  the  families  of  the  Tampurans  or  Rajas 
in  Travancore,  the  bridegroom  is  always  a  Koil  Tam- 
purSn. 

The  above  of  course  is  not  their  real  marriage, 
which  comes  on  later  when  the  free  choice  of  a  part¬ 
ner  is  allowed.  Their  own  caste-men  with  whom  there 
is  no  community  of  pollution,  Nambntiris,  Emprans, 
foreign  Brahmans,  etc.,  are  all  eligible  as  husbands. 
Re-marriage  is  allowed  and  is  of  frequent  occurrence. 
So  also  divorce  which  takes  place  on  the  parties 
separating  when  they  cannot  agree.  There  are  no 
religious  ceremonies  attending  these  unions,  and  the 
issue  have  no  sort  of  claim  to  inherit  the  property 
of  the  father.  The  Kshetriyas  follow  the  Marurnakka- 
ttayam  system  of  inheritance. 

Funerals .  On  the  death,  the  body  is  cremated 
and  pollution  is  observed  for  1 1  days.  The  funeral 
ceremonies  of  the  Kshetriyas  are  performed  in  the 
manner  of  Brahmans  of  the  Aswalayana  school.  An¬ 
nual  SrSdhas  are  also  performed.  As  followers  of  the 
matriarchal  system,  the  order  of  precedence  in  the 
offering  of  cakes  and  oblations  at  Sradhas  is  as  fol¬ 
lows: — 

(1)  Mothers,  (2),  mother's  brothers,  (3)  brothers, 
(4)  mother’s  sisters,  (5)  sister’s  children,  (6; 
mother’s  mother,  (7)  sisters,  (8)  mother’s  conventional 
husband,  and  (9)  the  Brahman  that  acted  as  com 
ventional  father,  the  Acharya  who  performed  the 
string  investiture  ceremony.  Another  authority  gives 
the  order  as  follows: — (1)  mother,  (2)  brothers  and 
sisters  (  among  whom  precedence  is  according  to 
seniority  by  age),  (3)  mother’s  brothers,  (4)  mother’s 
sisters,  (5)  mother’s  mother,  (6)  sister’s  children,  (7) 
mother’s  conventional  husband,  and  (8)  Acharya. 
According  to  another  reading  (5)  and  (6)  exchange 
places. 


144  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

In  the  matter  of  dress,  ornaments,  &c.,  they  do 
not  differ  much  from  Nayars. 


IV.  The  Antaralas 

Our  author  does  not  mention  the  An  tarsia  Ja{is 

as  a  class,  though  he  names  one  of  them,  the  “Poode- 

wallen”  as  one  of  the  “inferior  Sudras”.  As  already 

mentioned,  there  are  twelve  sub-divisions  among  the 

Antaralas  or  those  who  come  between  the  BrSh- 
» 

mans  and  the  Sudras,  not  reckoning  the  Kshetriyas. 
They  are  generally  temple  servants. 

As  regards  the  origin  of  the  Antarsiajaties  as  a 
separate  class  and  the  rationale  of  their  occupation,  I 
cannot  do  better  than  quote  the  observations  of  the 
Ttavancore  Census  Report . — 

“All  these  castes  are  not  connected  with  pagodas, 
nor  do  the  Muttatus,  who  are  mainly  engaged  in  temple 
service,  come  under  this  group,  strictly  speaking.  The 
rationale  of  their  occupation  seems  to  be  that,  in  accept¬ 
ing  duty  in  temples  and  consecrating  their  lives  to  the 
service  of  God,  they  hope  to  be  absolved  from  the 
sins  inherited  from  their  fathers.  In  the  case  of  ascent 
from  lower  castes,  the  object  presumably  is  the  acqui¬ 
sition  of  additional  religious  merit.  Some  details  of 
traditional  origin  have  been  referred  to  below  in  regard 
to  the  chief  divisions.  But  there  is  no  guarantee  of 
their  authenticity.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  quite  con¬ 
ceivable  that  the  fear  of  even  conventional  sins  was 
very  great  in  the  early  unsophisticated  ages  of  Malabar 
Hinduism.  All  considerations  of  sentiment  and  inter¬ 
est  were  then  freely  and  spontaneously  subordinated, 
and  in  their  altruistic  desire  to  keep  up  the  purity  of 
caste,  persons  whose  offences  would  not  otherwise  be 
known  except  to  the  great  Searcher  of  Hearts,  did  not 
probably  hesitate  to  come  forward  and  accept  the 
mandate  of  public  conscience  with  a  cool  self-sacrifice 
rarely  surpassed  in  the  history  of  human  society.  To 
form  a  self-contained  community,  therefore,  for  the  fallen 
of  various  kinds,  and  to  prevent  them  from  infecting 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


145 


the  general  mass,  various  subsidiary  and  intermediate 
castes  were  organized  as  by  a  natural  process,  rules 
more  in  keeping  with  a  relatively  weak  moral  sense 
were  prescribed,  and  every  detail  was  so  planned  as  to 
afford  sufficient  scope  for  its  gradual  strengthening. 
Society  attached  no  stigma  to  these  castes  ;  and  one 
did  not  look  upon  his  traditional  origin  with  any  more 
sense  of  mortification  than  one  would  feel  at  the  pos¬ 
session  of  an  evolutional  defect.  Each  member  believed 
that,  by  serving  out  his  term  of  life  in  accordance  with 
the  canons  prescribed,  he  would  be  returned  to  the 
position  from  which  his  distant  progenitor  fell.  The 
moral  effect  of  such  an  object-lesson  on  society  in 
general  was,  of  course,  great.  Viewed  from  the  econo¬ 
mic  aspect,  the  occupations  ordained  for  these  inter¬ 
mediate  castes  seem  to  have  been  so  arranged  as  not 
to  disorganize  society  with  reference  to  the  division  of 
labour  and  the  contentment  and  harmony  that  charac¬ 
terised  its  working.  The  object  and  aim  of  the  scheme 
of  Indian  castes  is,  as  generally  admitted,  to  enable 
society  to  keep  up,  by  heredity,  progressive  skill  and 
fitness  in  all  the  functions  on  which  universal  happiness 
depends.  Its  further  object  seems  to  be  to  keep  out 
from  the  world’s  arena  the  chances  of  one  occupational 
class  trespassing  on  another  and  thus  creating  feelings 
of  unhealthy  rivalry. 

“The  industrial  Sudra,  as  the  foundation  of  society, 
was  to  be  kept  undisturbed  by  adverse  influx,  the 
exchanging  VaiSya  should  not  be  demoralized  by 
the  letting  in  of  possible  competitors,  and  the  heredi- 
tory  protector  of  internal  order  and  the  external  peace 
should  not  be  handicapped  by  the  admission  of  evolu¬ 
tional  tyros  into  his  ranks.  The  delinquent  Brahman 
cannot  be  retained  in  the  Brahmanic  function  without 
lowering  the  standard  of  his  caste.  He  had,  therefore, 
to  be  allotted  other  functions.  Temple  service  of  various 
kinds,  such  as  garland-making  for  the  Pu§hpakan, 
Variyar  and  others,  and  popular  recitation  of  God’s 


146 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


works,  for  the  Chakkiyar,  were  found  to  hold  an  inter¬ 
mediate  place  between  the  internal  functions  of  the 
Brahmans  and  the  external  functions  of  the  other 
castes,  in  the  same  sense  in  which  the  temples  them¬ 
selves  are  the  exoteric  counterparts  of  an  esoteric  faith 
and  represent  a  position  between  the  inner  and  the 
outer  economy  of  nature.  Hence  arose  probably  an 
intermediate  status  with  intermediate  functions  for  the 
Antaraias,  the  intermediates  of  Hindu  Society  The 
K§hetriyas  having  cjmmen>al  privileges  with  the  Brah¬ 
mans  come  next  to  them  in  the  order  of  social  prece¬ 
dence.  In  the  matter  of  pollution,  periods  which  seem 
to  be  in  an  inverse  ratio  to  the  position  of  the  caste  are 
in  vogue.  The  Brahmans  observe  io  days,  the  K$hefriyas 
ii  days  and  the  Sudras  of  Malabar  (Nayars),  16 
days.  The  Ampalavasis  generally  observe  pollution  for  1 2 
days.  In  some  cases,  however,  it  is  as  short  as  10  and  in 
others,  as  long  as  13  and  even  14,  but  never  16  days.’1' 
The  Cochin  Census  Report  divides  the  Antaraiajaties 
into  three  sub-groups — ('a)  Nampitis,  (b)  the  Ampala¬ 
vasis  and  (c)  the  Samantas.  While  the  ] atinirnaya 
places  the  Nampitis  among  the  Papishtan  or  sinful 
Brahmans,  some  class  the  Samanta  as  a  degraded  class 
of  K§hetriyas.  Strictly  speaking,  they  are  of  the  inter¬ 
mediate  class,  for  the  one  comes  below  the  Brahman 
and  the  other  below  the  Kshetriya.  The  Nampiti  and 
the  Samanta  are  noticed  below  in  connection  with  our 
author’s  reference  to  them. 

The  term  ‘Ampalavasi’  means  one  who  lives  in  a 
temple.  It  is  a  group-name  and  is  applied  to  castes 
whose  occupation  is  temple  service.  But  all  those  whose 
occupation  is  temple  service  do  not  come  under  this 
caste  group,  e.  g.,  the  Muttatu  who  is  a  Siva  Dwija 
and  the  Maran  who  is  a  Sudra,  though  some  are  inclin. 
ed  to  class  these  also  as  Ampalavasis.  The  Aippala- 
vSsis  are  classed  as  Antaraias  from  their  occupying  an 
intermediate  position  between  the  Brahmans  and 
K$hetr iyas  on  the  one  hand  and  the  Sudras  on  the  other. 

x»  Census  Report,  pp.  259—260. 


(  To  face  p .  147 


Introd.J 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


147 


While  according  to  some  they  are  fallen  Brahmans, 
according  to  others  they  are  those  who  have  risen  from 
the  rank  of  Sudras. 

9 

The  Travancore  Census  Report  mentions  the  fol¬ 
lowing  as  included  in  the  generic  name  of  Aippala- 
vSsis: — 

(i)  Namplssan  (8)  Pilsppalii 


(2)  Pushpakan 

(3)  Puppalii 

(4)  ChakkiySr 


(9)  Nampiyar 

(10)  Pisharoti 

(11)  Variyar 


(12)  Nattupattan 


(13)  Tiyattunni 

(14)  Kurukkal 

(15)  Potuvals. 


(7)  Nampiti 


Of  these,  the  Cochifi  Census  Report  makes  mention 
of  Nos.  2,  4,  6,  10,  11,  13,  15  and  adds  two  more,  viz., 
Chakkiyar-Nampiyar  and  Maran. 

Most  of  these  classes  have  their  origin  in  sexual 
relations  between  members  of  the  higher  and  lower 
castes  and  are  therefore  Anulomajas  or  Pratilomajas. 
They  may  broadly  be  divided  into  (1)  those  that  wear 
the  sacred  thread  and  (2)  those  that  do  not  wear  the 
same.  Atikal,  Chakkiyar,  Nampiyar  or  Pushpakan  and 
Tiyyatturini  belong  to  the  first,  while  the  Chakkiyar — 
Nampiyar,  Pisharoti,  Putuval,  Variyar,  and  Maran 
belong  to  the  second  class.  They  have  separate  and 
distinct  duties  to  perform  in  temples. 

A ampiyassan — Pushpakan,  Puppaiii  and  Brahm- 
ard  form  a  sub-group  of  the  Ampalavasi  caste  known 
generally  as  Pushpakan  or  Unni.  The  term  Push¬ 
pakan  is  sufficiently  indicative  of  their  occupation,  viz, 
preparing  flower  garlands  for  the  temples.  Push¬ 
pakan  is  literally  ‘a  florist’.  They  sweep  the  inner 
premises  of  temples,  clean  intensils,  gather  flowers, 
string  them  together  into  garlands  to  adorn  the  idols  in 
cheir  daily  worship.  As  to  their  origin,  the  Kerala 
Mahatmyam  says  that  they  are  the  descendants  of  a 
Brahman  woman  conceived  while  her  mother  was  in 
menstrual  impurity. 


148  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

The  social  and  religious  ceremonies  observed  by 
all  the  members  of  this  group  are  similar  to  those  of 
the  Brahmans.  The  UpaAayana  is  performed  between 
the  8th  and  16th  year.  They  are  to  repeat  the  Gayafri 
ten  times  at  each  Sandhya,  morning,  noon  and  evening. 
All  Pushpakans  are  supposed  to  belong  to  the  same 
Gotra;  yet  they  inter-marry.  Divorce  is  permitted  and 
the  divorced  woman  can  form  Sambandham  with  a 

•  9 

Brahman,  The  issue  of  the  latter  union  inherit  along 
with  those  of  the  regular  marriage.  Their  caste  gov¬ 
ernment  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Nambutiri  Vydlkas. 
Birth  and  death  pollutions  last  for  11  days.  For  all 
usual  ceremonies,  they  have  priests  of  their  own  caste. 
For  the  more  important  -ones,  Nambutiris  officiate. 
Their  women  are  called  Brahman  is.  These  sing  at  the 
marriage  of  iNayars  songs  appropriate  for  the  occasion. 
They  also  have  to  sing  in  Bhagavati  temples.  They 
wear  the  same  jewelry  like  the  Nambutiri  women,  but 
dress  more  or  less  like  Nayar  women. 

Chakkiyar . — (See  note  to  Letter). 

Aii'kals . — These  belong  to  a  class  of  degraded 
brahmans,  the  degradation  being  caused  by  their  having 
officiated  as  priests  in  Bhadfakaii  temples,  and  worship¬ 
ped  the  goddess  with  offerings  of  flesh  and  liquor  or 
what  was  supposed  to  be  equivalent  to  these.  The 
Travcincore  Census  Report  refers  to  an  interesting 
tradition  regarding  their  origin. 

“Atikal  (literally  slaves  or  servants): — Tradition 
•  — 

states  that  Sankarscharya,  to  test  the  fidelity  of  certain 
Brahmans  to  the  established  ordinances  of  caste,  went 
to  a  liquor-shop  and  drank  some  stimulants.  Not 
recognizing  that  the  obligations,  from  which  adepts 
like  Sankara  were  free,  were  none  the  less  binding  on 
the  proletariat,  the  Brahmans  that  accompanied  the 
sage  made  this  an  excuse  for  their  drinking  too. 
Sankara  is  said  to  have  then  entered  a  foundry  and 
swallowed  a  cup  of  molten  metal  and  handed  another 
to  the  Brahmans  who  had  apparently  made  up  their 
minds  to  do  all  that  may  be  done  by  the  AchSrya.  But 


149 


Introd.  1  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

here  they  begged  to  differ,  apologized  to  him  as  Atiyals 
or  humble  servants  and  accepted  social  degradation  in 
expiation  of  their  sinful  presumption.  ”l 

They  practise  sorcery  and  certain  objectionable 
forms  of  exorcism  and  the  worship  of  evil  spirits.  They 
perform  the  Upafiayanaip  and  are  entitled  to  repeat 
the  Gayajri  ten  times.  They  ape  their  own  priests. 
They  observe  the  birth  and  death  pollutions  for  1 1  days. 
Their  women  are  known  as  Atiyamma  and  are  not 
ghosha.  They  wear  the  same  jewelry  as  the  Nambu- 
jiri  women.  There  are  both  MakkattSyies  and  Maru- 
makkattSyies  amongst  them. 

Thiyyattunni  or  Thiyyati  Nampiyars. — In  Bhadra- 
kali  temples  the  Tiyyattu^nies  have  to  paint  in  fantastic 
colours  the  image  of  Kali,  chant  appropriate  songs  in 
praise  of  the  Goddess  and  the  miraculous  deeds  she 
had  performed,  and  perform  propitiatory  worship. 
Their  services  are  in  constant  requisition  during  the 
prevalence  of  small-pox.  Houses  occupied  by  small¬ 
pox  patients  are  never  reoccupied  by  the  rest  of  the 
household  till  the  Tiyyattunni  performs  his  ceremonies 
within  them.  Similar  ceremonies  are  performed  in 
Bhadrakali  temples  also.  These  are  known  as  Tiyyattu 
or  ‘fire  dancing’.  Brahmans  and  their  own  caste- 
men  consort  with  their  women.  They  follow  either 
form  of  inheritance.  In  some  parts  Elayatus  act  as 
their  priests-  As  a  thread-wearing  class,  they  perform 
the  Upaftayanam.  They  observe  birth  and  death 
pollutions  for  n  days.  Their  women  are  very  much 
like  the  females  of  the  Pushpakan  class,  in  the  matter 
of  dress,  ornaments,  etc. 

Pitarans . — These  also,  perform  priestly  services 
in  Kali  temples  and  resemble  the  Atikai. 

Nampitis. — It  is  scarcely  correct  to  class  the 
Nampitis  among  the  Ampalavasis.  (For  particulars 
regarding  them,  see  Note  to  Letter.) 

Plappilli . — This  is  a  class  peculiar  to  Travancore, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  understand  how  they  came  to 

i.  pp.  262— 3» 


150  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

be  classed  among  the  Ampalavssis  though  they  certain¬ 
ly  come  under  the  Antaraiajsti.  The  word  PlSppiili  is 
by  some  considered  to  be  a  corrupted  form  of  the  Mala- 
ysiam  Balsl  Talii  meaning ‘forcibly  ejected’  and  a  tale 
hangs  thereby.  In  the  palmy  days  of  the  Ampalappula 
or  ChempakasSeri  Raja,  somewhere  about  the  year  8c8 
M.  E.  (A.  D.  1623),  the  Nambutiri  attendant  on  duty 
on  the  Raja,  who  was  himself  a  high  class  Nambujiri, 
was  entitled  to  anything  placed  before  the  Royal  pre¬ 
sence  as  a  present.  When  a  distant  ancestor  of  the 
Plappiiiis  was  on  duty,  a  dead  fish,  beautifully  tied  up 
and  covered,  was  placed  before  the  Raja,  and  the  Naip* 
butiri  attendant  unwittingly  removed  it.  When  the 
contents  of  the  packet  became  known  to  the  court,  he 
was  excommunicated.  The  Brahman  and  his  two  wives 
removed  themselves  to  a  village  near  Alleppey  called 
Kaiiercode  where  the  Raja  gave  them  some  land.  The 
caste  does  not  now  consist  of  more  than  a  hundred  and 
odd  members  all  told-  A  few  of  them  are  said  to  have 
proceeded  to  Chslakkudi  in  the  Cochin  State.  The 
PlSppiiiis  have  the  UpaAayanam  which  is  performed 
in  the  16th  year,  and  other  ceremonies  like  the  Narp- 
butiris.  Till  about  50  years  ago,  the  Elayatus  acted 
as  their  priests,  but  now  Nambutiris  and  Potties  act 
as  such.  They  have  the  tsii-tying  marriage  like  all 
Marumakkattayies,  an  Arya  Pattar  taking  the  part  of 
the  pseudo  bridegroom.  On  attaining  maturity,  their 
women  consort  with  Brahmans.  The  male  members 
consort  with  Nayar  women.  Their  birth  and  death 
pollution  last  for  10  days.  In  the  matter  of  dress,  both 
males  and  females  dress  like  Nambutiris.  So  also 
with  regard  to  ornaments.  Their  tali  is  not  the  Cheru 
tali  of  the  Nambutiris  but  is  known  as  Kumpaiattali. 
Of  late  however  their  women  have  been  adopting  re¬ 
fined  fashions-  They  follow  the  Marumakkattayam 
system  of  inheritance.  Offerings  are  made  in  honour 
of  departed  ancestors  on  new-moon  days,  but  no 
oblations  of  water  (TarpanLam)  are  made. 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


151 


N amply  ar.  The  term  ‘Nampiar’  is  applied  to  four 
classes  of  people,  one  of  which  belongs  to  the  Nayar  caste 
and  is  noticed  elsewhere  in  a  Note  to  Letter  XX,  while 
the  other  three  are  Ampalavasis.  These  are  (i)  the 
ChakkiySr-Nampiar  proper,  (2)  the  Tiyyati  Nampisr 
or  Tiyyattuniii,  and  (  3)  the  Pushpaka-NampiSr.  The 
last  two  have  been  already  noticed. 

The  first  one  is  noticed  below  in  connection  with 
his  companion  the  Chakkiyar.1 

The  Pi§haroti,  Putuval  and  Variyar  may  be 
grouped  together,  as  all  of  them  have  the  same  profes. 
sion,  that  of  sweeping  and  cleaning  the  temple  and 
supplying  it  with  flower  and  garlands  for  Puja.  The 
rice  offerings  made  in  the  temple  partly  go  to  them  as 
their  perquisite. 

Pisharotis  In  Travancore,  those  of  this  class  that 
live  to  the  south  of  Quilon  are  called  Aloti,  while  those 
that  live  to  the  north  are  known  as  Pisharotis.  They  are 
said  to  have  hda  their  origin  from  a  run-way  Sanyasi 
novice  who,  while  at  his  term  of  noviciate  felt 
the  prospect  of  an  austere  life  cheerless,  and  so 
escaped  from  his  preceptor.  He  is  said  to  have 
allied  himself  with  a  Variyar  woman,  and  descendants 
of  their  issue  are  the  Pisharotis.  A  Sanyasi  novice  is 
known  as  Pishara  and,  as  the  progenitor  of  the  Pisha¬ 
rotis  ran  away,  (Pishar-{-o'ti=ran)  he  and  his  descend¬ 
ants  are  said  to  have  been  called  Pisharotis.  The  late 
Professor  Sundram  Pillay  of  Trivandrum,  writing  in  his 
Early  Sovereigns  of  Travancore ,  rejects  this  tradition 
and  the  derivation  based  thereon,  and  traces  the 
Pisharotis  to  the  temple  officials  of  the  Buddhistic 
period.  He  says,  “I  would  allow  again  the  Buddhistic 
monk,  Bhattaraka  to  go  through  his  slow  evolution  of 
Bhattaraka  Tiruvati,  Badava  Tiruvati,  B[ara  Tiruva^i 
and  P§hara  'firuvati,  before  I  identify  him  with  our 
modern  Pi§haroti,  whose  puzzling  position  among  the 
Malabar  castes,  half  monk  and  half  layman,  is  far  from 

x.  See  Note  17  to  letter  XX, 


152  LETTERS  PROM  MALABAR  (L.  20. 

being  accounted  for  by  the  silly  and  fanciful  modern 
derivation  of  PishSrakal-f-Odi,  PishSrakal  being  more 
mysterious  than  PishSroti  itself’*.1  Referring  to  this, 
Dr.  Subrahmania  Ayyar  observes  in  the  Travancore 
Census  Report  thus:  “As  far  as  we ’could  gather  from 
early  and  medieval  Travancore  inscriptions,  there 
appears  to  have  once  existed  an  officer  called 
Pitara  Tiruvati  attached  to  every  important  temple, 
the  nature  of  whose  duty  cannot  now  be  ascertained. 
He  received  large  perquisites,  and  to  the  Bhattaraka  of 
Nelliyur  extensive  paddy  lands  were  given.  If  Bhat¬ 
taraka,  the  Tretayuga  type  of  an  apostate  Brahman, 
be  the  original  Pitara,  then  Pisharoti  may  be  a  con¬ 
traction  of  Bhattaraka  Tiruvati'*.  At  the  same  time, 
it  must  be  said  that  the  usually  accepted  derivation  is 
wholly  improbable*’.2 

The  PishSrotis  act  as  their  own  priests.  They 
have  however  to  accept  their  Puijijyaham  or  holy  water 
for  purification  from  the  Nambutiris,  whose  superior 
sanctity  does  not  allow  them  to  sprinkle  the  water  on 
the  Pi§harcti.  He  has  to  receive  it  on  his  head,  while 
it  is  dripping  from  the  roof  of  his  house  over  which  the 
Nainbutiri  pours  the  holy  water.  Instead  of  the 
Upaftayana  and  Gayktri,  he  is  initiated  into  the 
Vaish^avite  mantra  or  A§htsk§hara.  They  are 
bathed  with  consecrated  water,  soon  after  which,  they 
dress  themselves  in  the  fashion  of  the  orthodox 
Brahman  and  set  out  on  a  mock  journey  to  Benares,  as 
a  sign  of  the  conclusion  of  the  Brahmachsri  period. 
Their  women  are  called  Pi§harasy2rs  and  they  uridergo 
the  marriage  ceremony  before  or  after  puberty.  P5$i- 
grahagam  or  the  taking  of  the  bride’s  right  hand  in 
that  of  the  bridegroom  is  the  most  important  portion 
of  the  marriage  ceremonial.  The  bridegroom  per¬ 
forms  the  Homa  and  ties  the  \sli  round  the  bride’s 

\  '  1 

1.  Page  17. 

2.  Prge  264. 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


153 


neck.  After  this  they  are  at  liberty  to  form  Samban- 
dham  with  Brahmans  and  Kshetriyas. 

Their  funeral  ceremonies  partake  of  the  nature  of 
those  of  the  Sanyasis.  The  dead  body  is  never  cre¬ 
mated  but  buried  in  a  sitting  posture  in  a  pit  with  salt, 
ashes  and  sand  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  hymn 
which  says  “may  water  go  with  water  and  air  with  air,” 
i*e.,  “may  this  body  made  up  of  the  five  elements,  may 
the  Panchabhautika  Sarlra  resolve  into  their  compo¬ 
nent  parts  in  nature.”  As  in  the  case  of  a  SanySsi  who 
is  a  Jlvanmukta,  one  liberated  from  the  bondage  of  the 
flesh  though  alive  in  body,  a  dead  PishSroti  is  believed 
to  leave  no  subtle  body  needing  to  be  entertained  with 
any  post  mortem  offerings.  A  few  rites  are  however 
performed;  but  they  are  more  in  prayerful  memory 
(witness  the  ArSdhana  SrSdha  of  Brahman  SanySsis) 
than  in  satisfaction  of  a  real  want  felt  by  the  soul  of 
the  departed.  On  the  nth  day,  a  ceremony  corres¬ 
ponding  to  the  Ekodi$h{a  Sr2dha  of  the  Brahman  is 
performed.  A  knotted  piece  of  Kusa  grass  represent¬ 
ing  the  departed  soul  is  taken  to  a  neighbouring  tem¬ 
ple  where  a  lighted  lamp  symbolical  of  MahSvish^u  is 
worshipped  and  prayers  offered  by  the  Brahman  for 
the  absorption  of  this  soul  in  His  divine  substance. 
This  ceremony  is  repeated  at  the  end  of  the  first  year. 
The  asterism  of  the  death  is  commemorated  every  suc¬ 
cessive  year  by  certain  rites.  For  these  and  other 
ceremonials  the  priests  are  taken  from  their  own  castes. 
Their  funeral  ceremonies  and  observances  lend  colour 
to  their  origin  from  the  original  run-away  SanySsi 
novice. 

They  are  followers  of  the  Marumakka{{5yam 
system  of  inheritance.  The  women  wear  ornaments 
known  as  Paiiattali  and  Enjram  and  Kulal.  But  the  ear- 
ornaments  are  exactly  the  same  as  those  of  the  Nsyars. 

Variyars .  Regarding  the  origin  of  the  class  of 
VjriySrs,  many  suggestions  more  or  less  speculative 
are  made.  Some  would  say  that  they  are  called 

i.  Travancore  Census  Report  pp.  264*6.  T. 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


154 

Variyars  because  ParaSu  Rama  created  them  from 
Vari,  Sanskrit  for  water,  which  again  is  explained  to 
mean  that  these  men,  originally  Njyars,  were  purified 
by  Parasu  Rama  by  subjecting  them  to  a  plunge  bath 
to  qualify  them  to  serve  as  temple  servants.  Some  say 
that  they  are  called  Variyars  because  their  profession  is 
Varuka,  Mai :  to  gather  by  sweeping,  their  traditional 
employment  being  sweeping  and  cleaning  the  temple 
precincts.  Another  suggestion  is  that  the  term  is  a  cor¬ 
ruption  of  the  Sanskrit  Parasava,  the  son  of  a  Brahman 
duly  married  to  a  Sudra  woman;  the  progenitor  of  the 
class  is  said  to  have  been  a  Brahman  so  married.  The 
tradition  recorded  by  the  Kgralamahatmyam  is  thus 
set  forth  in  the  Travancore  Census  Report- 

“A  young  Brahman  girl  was  once  married  to  an 
aged  man.  Not  confident  in  unaided  human  effort, 
especially  under  circumstances  such  as  were  hers,  she 
devoted  a  portion  of  her  time  every  day  to  preparing 
garland  for  the  use  of  the  diety  at  the  nearest  temple. 
The  pious  girl  conceived.  But  the  over-scrupulous  old 
Brahman  welcomed  the  little  stranger  by  first  getting 
the  mother  thrown  out  of  caste.  Her  flower-garlands 
could  no  longer  be  accepted,  but  nothing  daunted,  she 
worked  as  usual  and  made  a  mental  offering  of  the 
garlands  she  preparedi  and,  as  if  by  an  unseen  hand, 
the  garlands  became  visible  on  the  person  of  the  diety. 
The  people  were  then  *  struck  with  shame  at  their  un¬ 
kind  treatment  of  the  God-blessed  innocent,  but  felt 
at  the  same  time  unprepared  to  take  her  back.  The 
Variyar  caste  was,  it  is  said,  constituted  accordingly. 
The  child  born  of  this  woman  was  brought  up  by  the 
AlvSncheri  Tamprakkal  and  was  accommodated  in 
his  Patippura  (an  out-house  at  the  entrance  gate). 
However  fanciful  these  derivations  appear,  one  who 
enters  into  the  condition  of  society  at  the  time  and  the 
high  level  of  religiousness,  absolute  and  conventional, 


165 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


which  was  attained  by  some,  would  perhaps  hesitate 
before  he  rejects  any  as  primarily  and  wholly  absurd.”1 

There  are  8  sub-divisions  among  the  Variyars* 

1.  The  Oi^attukara  Variyar. 

2.  The  Tekkumkur  Variyar. 

3.  The  Vatakkumkur  Variyar. 

4.  The  liayetattunSt  Variyar. 

5.  The  Atatini  Variyar. 

6.  The  Atatinnatta  Variyar. 

7.  The  Patippura  Variyar. 

8-  The  Chelayil  Kutiya  Variyar. 

“  The  first  four  classes  are  based  on  territorial 
distribution  and  represent  the  four  principalities  north 
of  VenSt,  extending  from  Etava  in  the  south  to  nearly 
Parur  in  the  north.  Iiayetattunat  under  the  Kottara- 
kara  Raja,  Q$£t  under  the  Ksyamkulam  Raja,  Tek¬ 
kumkur  under  the  Tekkumkur  Raja  at  Changanasseri 
and  Vatakkumkur  under  the  Vatakkumkur  Raja  near 
EtftfumSnur.  The  Raja  of  OnSt  or  Onattukara,  being 
the  most  puissant,  the  Variyars  who  were  his  subjects 
naturally  became  recognized  as  the  highest  among 
their  class. 


“In  the  light  of  the  tradition  connecting  the  first 
female  progenitor  of  the  Variyar  caste  with  the  Patip¬ 
pura  of  the  Alvancheri  Tampfakkai,  the  name 
Patippura  Variyar  may  quite  correctly  be  applied  to 
the  whole  community  of  Variyars.  But  in  practice  the 
Variyar  attendants  of  the  Alvancheri  Tamptakkais 
alone  are  called  by  that  name.  Even  to-day  a  Patip¬ 
pura  Variyar  walks  in  front  of  the  Tampfakkai  as  his 
trusted  orderly.  These  Variyars  employ  their  own 
priests  and  do  not  mix  even  with  the  Onattukara  Vari¬ 


yars. 

“  The  Atatini  and  the  Atatinnatta  sub-divisions 

•  1  •  *  9  • 

have  been  accounted  for  by  the  following  tradition.  The 
Nayar  chieftain  of  Kavaiappara,  while  travelling,  met 
a  group  of  Variyars  and  mistaking  them  for  Brahmans 
•'  i.  V.  266. 


156  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  (L.  20. 

alighted  from  his  palanquin  to  do  them  the  usual 

obeisance.  He  soon  found  out  his  mistake  and  by  way 

>  % 

of  unreasoning  revenge  forced  them  to  eat  the  cakes 
(aid)  they  had  with  them,  in  the  presence  of  himself 
and  his  palanquin  bearers.  The  descendants  of  those 
that  had  to  undergo  social  degradation  by  so  eating 
became  Atatlni  Variyars  (Variyars  that  ate  the  cake) 
and  the  descendants  of  those  who  ran  away  and  suc¬ 
cessfully  evaded  the  eating  in  This  heterodox  fashion 
came  to  be  designated  Atatifihatta  Variyars”. 

Manners  and  Customs .  The  Variyars  along  with 
the  Pu§hpakans  and  Pi§haratis  are,  by  Para$u  Rama’s 
appointment  as  it  were,  the  three  garland  making  castes 
of  the  Malabar  temples,  the  Kurukkals  in  South  Tra- 
vancore  being  the  fourth*  The  technical  name  of  the 
Variyars  office  is  Kalakam  (from  Kalukuka,  to 
cleanse)  of  which  there  are  two  kinds,  the  Malakeftu 
Kalakam  (garland*  making  service)  and  the  Tajik* 
kalakam  (sweeping  service).  The  scope  of  the 

Variyar  as  a  sort  of  general  assistant  to  the  Brahmani 
cal  priest  is  so  varied  and  extensive  that  the  term 
‘Kalakam’  seems  undoubtedly  a  misnomer*  Some 
of  the  Variyars  are  skilled  in  astrology,  and  most 
of  them  are  learned  in  Sanskrit,  and,  like  the  Pisha- 
raps,  are  often  invited  to  teach  in  the  families  of 
Malabar  noblemen. 


The  house  of  a  Variyar,  like  that  of  the  Aippa* 
lavasis,  has  no  special  name  and  is  simply  called 
Variyam.  If  there  be  more  than  one,  they  are  distin¬ 
guished  by  the  names  of  Vatakkevariyam  (Northern 
Variyam)  and  Tekkevariyam  (Southern  Variyam),  They 
resemble  the  Pi§haratis  in  many  respects.  But  they  are 
strict  Saivites,  Sulapani  Variyar  being  one  of  the  com¬ 
monest  names,  just  as  the  Pisharatis  are  devoted  ad¬ 
herents  of  Vishnu.  We  never  hear  of  a  Narayana  Vari¬ 
yar.  In  the  place  of  the  Kalasam  Olikkuka  purification 
that  the  Pi§harati  goes  through  before  his  initiation 
into  the  A$ht5k$haramai!i$ra.  the  Variyar  has  a 


Intfod.J 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


157 


ceremony  called  Sivadlksha.  Dressed  in  the  orthodox 
Brahmanical  style  and  decorated  with  the  Saivite 
marks  of  Vibhup  (holy  ashes)  and  Rudrak§ham,  the 
Variyar  goes  like  a  Brahmachari  for  Bhik$ha  (alms) 
on  which  the  pupil  had  to  live  under  the  ancient 
system,  and  walks  seven  steps  in  a  northerly  direction 
as  a  symbol  of  KSsiyStra  or  journey  to  Benares  for 
post-graduate  study.  This  terminates  his  Brahma- 
cbsrya  stage  and  makes  him  thenceforward  a  Gj-has^ha. 

The  Variyars  with  the  exception  of  the  Uj^attukara 
sub-division  are  all  matriarchal  in  their  system  of  in¬ 
heritance.  There  are  two  distinct  types  of  marriage 
in  vogue  among  the  latter  : — (a)  Ketpikalya^am  like 
that  of  the  Nayars  where  the  marriage  is  a  mere  cere¬ 
mony,  and  (b)  Kutivaikal  (settling  in  life)  which  con¬ 
fers  full  civil  rights  on  the  wedded  wife  and  her  issue. 
The  latter  form  comes  in  very  conveniently  whenever 
a  family  tends  to  become  extinct,  and  is  also  resorted 
to  when  the  female  members  are  few.  In  these  cases, 
the  newly  arrived  wife  has  the  same  rights  in  the 
family  as  if  she  were  a  born  member.  Pollution  is 
generally  for  12  days. 

A  Variyar  performs  the  Sradha  for  his  parents 
and  his  maternal  uncle.  The  offerings  are  addressed 
to  his  deceased  ancestor  as  the  servant  of  Siva,  and 
member  of  the  Gojra  of  Kailasa  (the  residence  of  Siva), 
Kailasa  Gojrotbhavaya  Sivadasaya,  being  the  Saipkal- 
pam. 

The  Variyar,  it  may  be  added,  is  referred  to  in 
the  Keralo^papi  as  Kailasavasi  or  dweller  in  mount 
Kailasa.  This  only  indicates  his  devotion  to  Siav- 
To  the  Ilayapi,  his  sometime  priest,  the  Variyar  is  a 
hated  foe.  The  former  will  not  even  drink  from  a 
well  situated  in  the  house  of  the  latter.1 

The  Nattupattan  is  similar  to  Ti/yyattu^i  or 
y2p  Narppiar. 

1.  Travancore  Census  Report,  p.  267—268. 


158  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  {L.  20. 

KurukkaL  This  class  of  Ampalavasis  is  peculiar 
to  Travancore>  and  we  have  the  following  interesting 
account  of  them  in  The  Travancore  Census  Report : 

“ KurukkaL  The  Kurukkais  are  very  probably 
of  Tamil  origin,  having  been  originally  brought  down 
from  the  Tamil  country  for  the  purpose  of  temple  ser¬ 
vice.  Their  customs  and  manners  bear  out  this  view. 
The  Vsriyars  who  are  the  recognized  temple-servants 
of  Malabar,  are  not  indigenous  to  VeriSt  and  the  rela¬ 
tions  that  must  have  been  frequently  strained  between 
the  VgnLS{  and  the  Oi^St  Rajas,  where  alone  the 
Vsriyars  were  found,  must  have  raised  a  necessity  for 
importation.  Further,  the  Koiattunst  family  which  is 
the  present~stock  of  the  Travancore  Royal  House 

have  had  differences  with  the  Nambutiri  Brahmans  of 

•  * 

the  Perinchellur  GrSmam  and  the  Vsriyars,  at  least 
one  large  section  of  them,  being  the  hereditary  ser¬ 
vants  of  the  Alvsncheri  Tamprskkal  were  not  readily 
available  for  service  in  Travancore  temples.  The  men 
imported  had  already  been  priests  at  the  non-Brahmani- 
cal  temples,  such  as  at  Mantaikkat  in  South  Travan¬ 
core.  In  the  Keralolpathi ,  Kurukkais  are  referred  to 
as  Chilarnplgitis  and  AtiySrs  or  hereditary  servants  at 
the  shrine  of  Sri  Padmansbha  SwSmi. 

9 

Manners  and  Customs •  The  dress  and  ornaments 
of  the  Kurukkais  are  very  much  like  those  of  the  Naip- 
putiri  Brahmans.  The  women  wear  the  Cherujali 
round  their  necks,  and  Chutftfu  in  the  lobes  of  their  ears. 
Tattooing  is  in  great  favour.  The  line  of  inheritance 
is  maternal.  The  house  of  a  Kurukkai  is  called  by  the 
same  name  as  that  of  a  Sudra,  i.  e.,  Vltu.  The  Kuruk¬ 
kais  have  priests  among  themselves.  Their  caste 
government  is  in  the  hands  of  the  eight  trustees,  called 
Yogakksr,  of  Sri  Padmanabha  Sw2mi’s  temple.  The 
Jiru  Oniam  day  in  the  month  of  Chingam  is  to  them, 
as  to  the  East  Coast  Brahmans  and  allied  castes,  an 
important  religious  festival  called  UpSkarma.  But  the 
ceremonial  at  a  Kurukkal’s  Upskarma  is  not  apparently 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


15S 


much  more  than  the  renewal  of  the  UpavTja  (sacred 
thread). 

A  curious  account  of  the  circumstances  connected 
with  their  change  into  the  Marumakkatt2yam  from 
their  original  MakkattSyam  system  is  current  in 
tradition  and  may  perhaps  be  referred  to* 

The  Tarananallur  NampUrippat  is  the  Tantri  or 
the  chief  ecclesiastical  functionary  of  Sri  PadmanSbha’s 
temple  at  Trivandrum.  One  of  the  temple  yogakkar, 
wishing  to  secure  this  office  for  himself  and  his  family, 
prevailed  upon  the  Kurukkal,  whose  business  it  was 
to  convey  the  formal  intimation  about  the  dates  of 
temple  festivals  to  the  Tarananallur  NampurippSt 
living  several  miles  from  Trivandrum,  to  deliver  it  at 
such  a  time  as  would  make  it  impossible  for  him  to 
reach  Trivandrum,  iia  time  for  the  occasion.  The 
Tanfri’s  absence  from  his  duty  on  the  appointed  day 
would,  the  Potftfi  is  said  to  have  calculated,  so  displease 
the  Maharaja  as  to  lead  to  a  vacancy  in  the  office  in 
question.  All  these  plans  were  duly  carried  out,  but 
not  with  the  desired  result.  The  Nampuripp2(?s 
phenomenal  piety  towards  Vighnesvara  helped  him  to 
tide  over  all  obstacles  and  enabled  him  to  cover  the 
whole  journey  in  a  single  night.  But  the  Kurukkal 
was  cursed  for  having  thus  colluded  in  an  unworthy 
act,  and  the  supposed  conversion  of  the  old  Makka- 
ttSyam  into  Marumakkattayam,  tradition  connects 
with  this  curse.  But  judging  from  the  way  in  which 
the  system  of  inheritance  in  an  immigrating  community 
has  changed  by  long  residence  into  that  of  the  country 
into  which  they  have  so  immigrated,  all  this  explanation 
may  not  be  quite  necessary.  From  a  copper  plate 
document  which,  however,  is  not  forthcoming,  the 
change,  it  would  seem,  was  as  recent  as  907  M.  E. 
(1732  A.  D.) 

Ceremonials .  For  the  Nsmakarana  and  Anna- 
pr2$ana  there  are  no  special  mantras  to,  be  recited* 
Every  thing  is  done  by  the  family  priest.  The  day 


160 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


LL.  -0. 


previous  to  the  Upafiayana,  the  family  priest  performs 
the  pujjyaha  and  ties  the  pratisara  string  round  his 
right  wrist.  On  the  second  day  is  the  tonsure.  On 
the  third  day,  the  sacred  thread  is  worn  and  the 
Gsyatri  hymn  is  first  recited.  For  four  days  from  the 
third  day,  the  Samidsdhsna  or  worship  of  the  sacred 
fire  is  observed.  Ten  Gayatris  may  be  recited  each 
time.  The  marriage  ceremony  or  rather  the  Talikettu 
of  the  girl  is  performed  between  the  ages  of  8  and  12. 
Before  the  auspicious  moment  arrives,  the  Brahma^i 
is  called  to  sing  her  songs.  If  the  person  who  ties  the 
Jali  happens  to  live  with  her  as  husband  and  conti¬ 
nues  to  do  so  till  he  dies,  her  sons  observe  pollution 
and  make  funeral  offerings.  When  a  Kurukkai  girl 
attains  puberty,  there  is  exhibited  all  the  gaiety  and 
merriment,  often  of  a  rough  unedifying  kind,  found 
among  Tamil  Brahmans.  No  Pumsavana  or  Slmanja  is 
observed,  but  in  its  place  the  putikuti  ceremony 
of  the  Nsyar  caste  is  celebrated.  Neither  at  the  tonsure 
nor  at  the  funeral  ceremonies^  is  the  assistance  of  the 
Maran  required.  This,  it  may  be  remarked,  is  a 
notable  point  of  distinction  from  the  indigenous 
highcastes  of  Malabar.  Pollution  is  observed  for  1 2 
days.  On  the  13th  day,  they  undergo  a  pu$y$ha 
ceremony  at  the  hands  of  their  own  caste  men.1 

The  Cochin  Census  Report ,  as  already  observed, 
includes  the  Msrsn  among  Ampalavasis  but  remarks 
that  they  are  Sudras;  but,  properly  speaking,  they 
ought  to  be  classed  along  with  Nayars.  Their  claim  to 
be  classed  with  Ampalavasis  “is  their  close  connection 
with  services  in  temples,  and  the  absence  of  free  inter¬ 
dining  or  intermarriage  with  Nayars.”  But,  in  the 
South,  the  Nayars  generally  do  not  accord  to  the  Msrjn 
the  privilege  of  interdining  or  intermarrying  with  them. 
They  arrogate  to  themselves  social  superiority  over 
the  Maranwhoin  turn  puts  forward  his  own  superiority. 

1.  Pages  269 — 270. 


SIR  C.  SAN  KARAN  NAYAR. 

(  Formerly  ■  Advocate-General  &  High  Court 
Judge,  Madras;  Member  of  Governor-generars 
Executive  Council  and  of  the  Council  of  the 
Secretary  of  State;  once  President,  Indian 
National  Congress). 


(To  face  p .  161. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  161 

They  are  drummers  and  musicians  in  temples.  In  the 
matter  of  marriage  (both  Talikettu  and  Sambandham), 
inheritance,  period  of  pollution,  etc.,  they  follow 
customs  exactly  like  those  of  Nayars.  In  some  parts, 
the  Elayatus  officiate  at  their  SrSdhas  while,  in  some 
other  parts,  their  own  castemen  do  so.  Similarly  with 
regard  to  the  tying  of  the  Tali. 


V.  The  Nayars. 

In  this  letter  our  author  proposes  to  give  a  minute 
account  of  the  Nayars  or  “Warriors  of  Malabar”. 
But,  as  his  account  is,  at  the  best,  but  meagre  and  in¬ 
different,  it  is  deemed  necessary  to  add  to  it  further 
details,  to  enable  our  readers  to  have  a  correct  idea  of 
the  class  of  people  who  played  a  very  important  part 
in  the  social  and  political  drama  of  Southern  India. 

i.  The  Nayars  form  the  most  important  section 
of  the  Malabar  population  and  hold  a  position  in  caste 
next  to  the  Brahmans  and  the  Kshetriyas.  The  Vaisias, 
or  the  trading  class,  find  no  place  in  the  socio-religious 
economy  of  KSrala-  The  An  tarsi  ajaties  or  Ampala- 
vSsis  claim  superiority  to  the  Nayars,  which  is  contested 
in  certain  quarters,  and  some  of  them  also  demand  a 
higher  position  in  virtue  of  their  office  in  temples  and 
their  strictly  vegetarian  diets.  Malabar  is  often  styled 
the  land  of  Nayars,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  in 
various  respects,  they  may  be  said  to  form  the  most 
distinguishing  feature  of  the  district. 

Origin  of  the  Caste .  No  two  opinions  agree  as  to 
the  origin  of  the  Nayars.  While  a  few  take  them  to  form 
part  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Malabar,  the  more 
correct  view  seems  to  be  that  they  were  early  settlers 
from  the  north.  “The  Nairs  of  Southern  India”  says 
Sir  Harry  Johnston  “were  really  a  warlike,  aboriginal 
tribe  which  had  forced  themselves  to  be  recognized  as  a 
twice-born  caste — practically  equivalent  to  the  Aryan 
Kshatriyas  and  Rajaputs”1.  One  theory  goes  to  say  that, 

i.  Pioneers  in  India,  note  on  page  143. 

U* 


IG2 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 

> 

long  before  the  Aryans  left  their  common  home  in  the 
plateau  of  Central  Asia,  several  sections  of  a  race  seem 
to  have  progressed  southwards  and  overrun  South 
India.  A  certain  section  of  the  population  of  Southern 
India  is  regarded  ethnically  as  being  Dravidian  or 
Turanian,  and,  in  common  with  them,  the  Nsyars  are 
also  considered  to  belong  to  the  Turanian  race.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  “both  the  Brahmans  and  the  Nairs 
of  the  Malabar  coast  are  of  homogeneous  descent  and  of 
a  primeval  Turanian  race”1. The  Rev.  W.  Taylor  obser¬ 
ves  that  “the  Nairs  are  the  descendants  of  the  aborigi¬ 
nal  inhabitants  of  Kerala  who  probably  were  brought 
into  some  measure  of  civilization  by  the  colonist  Brah¬ 
mans,  yet  retaining  so  much  of  their  own  manners  as 
-  to  be  a  people  inclusive  of  mixed  tribes  very  different 
from  genuine  Hindus”2. 

1.  Native  Life  in  Travancore,  p.  179. 

2.  The  word  Dravidian  indicates  a  linguistic  rather  than  a 

racial  section.  The  principal  Dravidian  languages  are  Tamil, 
Telugu,  Canarese  and  Malayalam.  Malayalam  is  the  language 
of  Cochin,  Travancore  and  British  Malabar,  and  is  spoken  of  by 
some  ten  millions  of  people.  “The  main  racial  element  in  the 
Dravidian  population”  says  Dr.  G.  Slater,  “is  a  branch  of  the 
Mediterranean  race.”  The  people  of  this  class  seem  to  have 
come  to  India  through  Baluchistan  by  way  of  Mesopotamia,  before 
the  dawn  of  the  Sumerian  civilization,  (Pp.  19  and  27  of  The 
Dravidian  Element  in  Indian  Culture').  On  the  other  hand. 
Dr.  S.  Konow  thinks  that  “There  is  no  indication  that  the  Dra- 
vidians  have  entered  India  from  outside  or  superseded  an  older 
population.”  According  to  him,  they  form  the  aborigines  of  the 
Deccan t  whence  they  appear  to  have  spread  over  part  of  Northern 
India.  (II is  article  on  Dravidian  in  the  nth  Edition  of  Ency. 
Britanica.)  That  is  also  the  view  expounded  by  Prof.  T.  R. 
Sesha  Iyengar  in  his  Dravidian  ludia .  (Pp.  59 — 60).  “That  our 
view  of  South  India  being  the  probable  home  of  civilization  is 
not  entirely  a  baseless  fabric  of  a  dream  receives  support  from 
Dr.  Chatterji  who  says  “It  would  be  established”,  provided  Hall’s 
theory  of  Sumerian  origins  be  true, “that  civilization  first  arose  in 
India,  and  was  associated  probably  with  the  primitive  Dravidians. 
Then  it  was  taken  to  Mesopotamia  to  become  the  source  of  the 
Babylonian  and  other  ancient  cultures  which  form  the  basis  of 
modern  civilization,”  *  *  *  According  to  Sir  John 

Evans  ( Presidential  address  of  the  Br,  Assn .  for  the  Advancement 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


163 


Introd.] 

Some  distinctive  features  of  the  Nsyar  community 
are  pointed  out  as  indicating  fheir  racial  origin,  such 
as  (i)  that  the  family  is  founded  on  a  matriarchal  basis; 

( 2 )  that  they  are  serpent  worshippers  to  a  large  degree; 

of  Science ,  1897,  on  Science  of  Man),  Southern  India  was  probably 
the  cradle  of  the  human  race.  Investigations  in  relation  to  race 
show  it  to  be  possible  that  Southern  India  was  once  the  passage 
ground  by  which  the  ancient  progenitors  of  northern  and  Medi¬ 
terranean  races  proceeded  to  the  parts  of  the  globe  which  they 
now  inhabit.”  “The  Dravidian  race,”  says  Sir  H.  Risley  “the 
most  primitive  of  the  Indian  types,  occupies  the  oldest  geological 
formation  in  India,  the  medley  of  forest*clad  ranges,  terraced 
plateaus  and  undulating  plains  which  stretches,  roughly  speaking, 
from  the  Vindhyas  to  Cape  Comorin”  *  *  *  “To  the  general 

rule  that  Dravidian  languages  belong  to  the  South  of  India,  there 
is  one  remarkable  exception.  Brahui  is  isolated  and  far  separat¬ 
ed  from  its  kin,  having  its  locale  in  Baluchistan.  The  tribes  that 
speak  Brahui  resemble  to  a  considerable  extent  the  people  of 
South  India  in  physical  characteristic  and  temperament,  and  show 
a  marked  contrast  to  their  neighbours  so  that  it  is  clear  that,  in 
their  case, affinity  of  language  is  the  result  of  affinity  of  race.  (Pp. 
14  and  15  of  Dr.  Slater’s  book,  referred  to  above.).  In  the  words 
of  Dr.  E.  Thurston,  there  is  practical  agreement  among  linguistic 
authorities  as  to  the  Dravidian  affinities  of  the  Brahui  language, 
Dravidian  culture  was  evolved  in  India,  and  mainly  under  the 
stimulus  of  the  Indian  environment,  though  not  without  the  oper¬ 
ation  of  important  external  influences”.  (P.27  of  Dr.  Slater’s 
book.).  “Proofs  in  abundance  of  the  extreme  antiquity  of  inter¬ 
course  by  sea  between  South  India  and  other  countries  of  civili¬ 
zation . .  are  conveniently  summed  up  by  Mr.  W..  J.  Perry 

in  his  Children  of  the  Sun.”  (P.  73  of  Dr.  Slater’s  book;  also  see 
p.  21  of  the  Jenmi-kudiyan  Report  of  Travancore ).  There  are 
those  who  claim  a  greater  antiquity  for  Dravidian  than  for  Aryan 
civilization.  “The  very  character  of  the  Tamil  language,”  says 
Dr.  Slater  “  the  perfection  with  which  it  has  been  developed  into 
an  organ  for  precise  and  subtle  thought,  combined  with  the  fact 
that  it  represents  a  much  earlier  stage  in  the  evolution  of  inflexion¬ 
al  language  than  any  Indo-Ger manic  tongue,  suggests,  though, 
of  course  it  does  not  prove,  the  priority  of  the  Dravidians  in 
attaining  settled  order  and  regular  Government.  The  late  'Chat- 
tambi  Swami  has  written  a  small  paper  on  the  antiquity  and  per¬ 
fectness  of  the  Tamil  language.  There  he  incidentally  remarks 
that  Samskrtam,  the  Sanskrit  language,  has  been  refined  and 
pplished  by  Tamil*  *  Some  scholars  want  us  to  believe  that  the 


164 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20* 


and  (3)  that  the  kingly  element  was  wanting  in  its  earlier 
stages.  The  institution  of  the  family  on  a  matriarchal 
basis  is,  as  shown  by  Me’  Lennan  and  others,  inci¬ 
dental  to  certain  early  stages  of  social  evolution,  in 
every  part  of  the  world,  for  instance,  among  the 

great  Epic  Ramayana  is  only  an  allegory  to  describe  the  march 
of  Aryan  civilization  into  the  dark  Dravida  lands,  while  others 
maintain  that  it  is  intended  to  indicate  the  introduction  of  agri¬ 
culture  into  Southern  India.  But  the  Epic  belies  both  these  con¬ 
tentions;  at  any  rate,  it  does  not  conclusively  prove  them.  For, 
there  is  clear,  internal  evidence  in  that  work  to  show  that,  in  spite 
of  hills  and  forests  which  exist  even  to  this  day,  civilization  had 
reached  a  high  stage  in  South  India  and  though  the  poet  calls 
the  non-Aryans  Vanaras  and  Rakshasas,  there  were  amongst  them 
many  who  were  great  in  the  arts  of  war  and  of  peace.  To  speak 
of  less  ancient  times,  there  is  the  authority  of  Mr.  J.  F.  Hewitt 
who  has  the  following  remark  in  his  Ruling  Races  of  Prehistoric 
Times'. —  “The  Jewish  and  Roman  Codes  could  never  have  grown 
up  unless  the  seeds  from  which  they  sprang  had  been  sown  by  the 
Indian  Dravidians,  the  pioneers  of  international  trade.** 
“Amongst  the  elements  of  Dravidian  origin,”  says  the  historian  of 
Indian  and  Indonesian  Art,  Dr.  Koomaraswamy,“are  probably  the 
cults  of  the  phallus  and  of  the  Mother-goddesses,  Nagas,  Yakshas 
and  other  nature  spirits;  and  many  of  the  arts’*.  “The  enrichment 
of  civilization  consequent  uponihe  constant  and  lively  interchange 
of  ideas  and  experiences  with  the  myriad  races  of  the  ancient 
world,  the  higher  degree  of  '  material  prosperity  that  followed  in 
virtue  of  this  extraordinary  commercial  enterprise,  and  the  remark¬ 
able  outburst  of  literary  and  intellectual  activity,  which  is  the  out¬ 
come  of  that  prosperity,  these  along  with  a  distinct  non-Aryan 
alphabet,  a  highly  cultivated  language  exclusively  DravidiaD,  a 
polished  literature  composed  on  Dravidian  lines  and  independent 
of  Sanskrit  models,  an  indigenous  system  of  medicine,  and  an 
advanced  civilisation  independent  of  Aryan  influences  are  among 
the  factors  that  entitle  the  ancient  Dravidians  to  a  high  place 
among  the  nations  of  antiquity.”  (Pp.  150 — 1  of  Dravidian  India 
by  Prof.  Sesha  Iyengar.)  Mr.  Sivaraja  Pillai,  the  Reader  in  Tamil 
to  the  Madras  University  has,  in  an  appendix  to  this  Agastya 
in  the  Tamil  Land ,  a  “Testimony  of  Scholars”  re.  Dravidian 
Civilization.  A  few  sentences  from  that  shall  be  extracted  here: — 

The  reason  why  the  Aryan  irruption  was  so  different  in 
Southern  India  from  what  it  was  in  the  north  appears  to  be  that, 
when  the  Aryans  penetrated  to  the  south,  there  existed  already 
well  organised  communities  and  kingdoms’*  (Dr.  Bhandarkar’s 
History  of  Deccan ,  p,  10).  “The  development  of  the  early  stages 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


165 


Introd.] 

Orinoco  Indians,  among  most  of  the  Australian  savages 
in  Ceylon,  New  Zealand,  in  parts  of  Africa,  etc. 
The  remarkable  system  of  tracing  succession  and  in¬ 
heritance  through  females  is  not  strange  to  early  society 
and  it  exists  even  now  in  some  parts.  Col.  Yule 
observes  that  this  custom  exists,  or  has  existed,  also  in 
Canara,  among  the  aborigines  of  Hispaniola  and  tribes 
of  New  Granada  and  Bogota,  among  the  Negro  tribes 
of  the  Niger;  among  certain  sections  of  the  Malayas 
of  Sumatra,  in  the  Royal  family  of  Tipara, 
and  among  the  Kasias  of  the  Sylhet  mountains 

of  the  grantha  character  is  very  difficult  to  trace,  far  the  reason 
that  the  north  Indian  civilization,  when  it  got  far  down  in  the 
Peninsula  as  the  Tamil  country,  found  there  a  people  already  in 
possession  Of  the  art  of  writing  and  apparently  a  cultivated 
language.*’  (Dr.  Burnell’s  Elements  of  South  Indian  Palaeo¬ 
graphy ).  “This  extension  is  everywhere  marked  by  the  spread 
of  Sanskrit  and  its  dialects.  It  received  a  check  in  Southern 
India,  where  the  older  civilization  and  languages  remain  pre- 
dominent  even  to  the  present  day”.  (Prof.  E.  J.  Rapson’s  Ancient 
Indiay  p.  9).  ‘‘Apart  from  the  language,  there  is  a  general  culture 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  Dravidian  race  and,  after  the 
elimination  of  the  pre-Dravidian,  a  racial  type  emerges  with  finer 
features  than  those  of  the  aborigines,  and  the  conclusion  seems 
evident  that  this  was  due  to  an  immigrant  people  who  reached 
India  before  2,000  B.  C.”  (Dr.  A.  C.  Halldon’s  Races  of 
Man). 

**The  ancient  kingdoms  of  the  far  south,  although  rich  and 
populous,  inhabited  by  Dravidian  nations  not  inferior  in  culture 
to  their  Aryan  rivals  in  the  north,  were  ordinarily  so  secluded  from 
the  rest  of  the  civilised  world  including  Northern  India,  that  their 
affairs  remained  hidden  from  the  eyes  of  other  nations;  and  native 
annalists  being  lacking,  their  history  previous  to  the  year  800  of 
the  Christian  Era,  has  almost  wholly  perished.”  (Dr.  Vincent 
A.  Smith’s  Early  History  of  India ,  p.  7). 

“But  although  the  Dravidians  were  not  the  earliesi  settlers, 
and  although  they  have  not  been  exempt,  and  that  in  no  small 
degree  from  external  influences,  it  is  from  them  that  the  civilised 
part  of  the  Deccan  derives  its  characteristic  features  in  language 
and  institutions.  Among  the  latter  may  especially  be  noticed  its 
monetary  system  and  the  coins  in  which  it  is  expressed.”  (Sir 
Walter  Elliot’s  Coins  of  Southern  India ,  p.  2).— Editor. 


166  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

(  both  east  of  Bengal  );  in  a  district  of  Ceylon 
adjoining  Bintenne;  in  Madagascar;  in  the  Fiji  Islands; 
and  among  the  Hurons  and  Natchez  of  North  America.”1 
The  prevalence  of  the  custom  amongst  people  living 
so  widely  apart  shows  that  its  existence  was  almost 
universal  in  early  society,  and  its  survival  among  the 
Nayars  may  be  taken  as  indicating  dimly  their  origin. 
But,  as  observed  by  Lubbock,  “different  races  in 
similar  stages  of  social  evolution  often  present  more 
features  of  resemblance  to  one  another  than  the  same 
race  does  to  itself  in  different  stages  of  its  history.”3 

A  Scythian  origin  of  the  Nayars  has  also  been 
recently  propounded.  This  is  based  more  or  less  on 
the  prevalence  of  serpent  worship  amongst  them,  and 
a  fancied  resemblance  between  the  terms  Nagar  (ser¬ 
pent)  and  Nayar.  The  argument  is  that  a  Scythian 
race,  known  as  the  'fakshakas  or  serpents,  probably 
because  their  totem  was  a  snake,  or  more  probably 
because  they  were  snake-worshippers  themselves, 
settled  in  Northern  India  and  sent  down  colonies  to 
the  south.  They  were  also  known  by  the  tribal  name 
of  Nagas  (serpents,  again).  It  is  said  that  about  the 
5th  century  B.  C.,  while  the  Nagas  were  yet  ruling  in 
the  north,  Vijaya,  a  son  of  the  king  of  Magadha, 
sailed  towards  Ceylon  and  established  himself  there. 
Vijaya  and  his  successors  seem  to  have  had  frequent 
intercourse  with  the  Peninsula,  and  it  is  most  likely 
that  the  present  day  Nayars  are  the  descendants  of  the 
original  Naga  settlers.  Another  step  in  the  argument 
is  that  “the  term  Nair  or  Nayar,  which  seems  the 
more  correct  form,  is  only  a  corruption  of  Nagar, 
Nagars  or  serpent  worshippers,  the  gutteral  *g*  being 
softened  into  the  ‘y*  sound  by  a  process  well  known  to 
philologists/ '  With  regard  to  the  serpent  cult,  we 
shall  be  able  to  show  later  on  that  it  was  almost  uni¬ 
versal  throughout  the  whole  world  and  that  it  has  still 
its  votaries  in  many  parts.  James  Ferguson  has  shown 

1.  A  Note  in  his  Wonders  of  the  East. 

2.  Origin  of  Civilization. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  161 

in  his  work  on  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship  that  the 
adoration  of  the  snake  as  divine  is  a  practice  once 
common  to  all  the  tribes  belonging  to  the  Turanian 
race,  not  only  of  India,  but  of  far  distant  countries 
such  as  Lapland  and  Finland.  The  Hindu  religion, 
as  practised  even  now,  and  on  the  East  Coast,  is  no 
stranger  to  Serpent  worship.  The  great  Serpents 
'fak§haka,  Adi  Seshan,-  Vssuki  are  all  worshipped  by 
modern  Hindus.  The  temples  of  Madura,  Srirangam 
and  other  places  contain  images  of  serpents  which  are 
objects  of  daily  worship.  Catching  similarity  in  sounds 
and  names  is  often  unsafe  to  base  an  argument  upon, 
and  yet  the  identity  of  the  Nsyars  with  the  poly- 
androus  Tibetans  has  been  suggested  on  the 
similarity  of  the  words  Nsyars  and  Newars.  So  also 
with  regard  to  the  similarity  between  the  words 
Nsgar  and  Nair,  or  Nayar.  The  transition  from 
the  one  to  the  other  by  the  softening  of  the  gutteral  ‘g* 
into  the  ‘y*  sound  being  more  fanciful  than  real.  If 
we  are  to  appeal  to  the  phonetic  variations,  may  we  not 
suggest  that  they  favour  the  derivation  of  Nayar  frdm 
Naicker  (Tamil)  or  Nayakar  (Sanskrit).  Some  do 
indeed  contend  that  the  Nayars  are  Aryans,  and  that  the 
term  Nayar  is  but  another  form  of  the  Sanskrit  Nayaka.1 

It  was  not  only  among  non-Aryan  races  that  the 
kingly  element  was  wanting  in  their  earlier  stages. 
The  original  settlements  of  the  Aryans  themselves  in 
( Northern  India  were  republican.  In  the  time  of 
Buddha,  we  see  village  republics  abounding  in  the 
north.  In  some  instances,  the  Governments  were  also 
aristocratical  in  form.  Buddha  himself  was  a  prince 
of  a  country  which  was  governed  by  an  absolute 

i.  Surgeon-Major  C.  F.  Oldham  has  shown  in  his  The  Sun 
and  the  Serpent  that  the  solar  and  the  lunar  lines  of 
kings  were  Nagas  or  serpent- worshippers,  that  Ravana 
was  a  Naga,  and  that  IndVa  and  his  celestial  set  has 
marriage  relations  with  Nagas.  Agasthya’s  descent  from 
Naga  ancestors  and  Vasishta’s  connection  with  Nagas 
are  also  shown  in  it.  (See  also  the  Jenmi-Kutiyan  Report 
of  Travancore  pp.  22  and  23*) — Ed. 


168  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.  20. 

monarch.  But  the  Vaffis  or  Vrafis,  the  K§he{fiya 
inhabitants  of  a  neighbouring  province,  formed  a 
republic.  Many  such  other  republics  are  also  spoken 
of.  These  republics  were  gradually  absorbed  into  the 
monarchies  that  lay  contiguous  to  them,  and  the 
political  growth  of  the  country  was  arrested.  The 
same  process  took  place  in  the  south.  In  Malabar,  the 
Government  the  Brahmans  introduced  Was  an  oligarchi¬ 
cal  one.  The  Keralotpatti  tells  us  that  the  Brahmans 
had  soon  to  give  up  this  and  to  adopt  a  monarchical 
form,  only  the  kings  were  to  be  elected,  holding  office 
for  a  definite  term.  This  again  ceased  before  long, 
when  the  last  of  the  elected  princes  assumed  absolute 
power,  and  is  alleged  to  have  taken  upon  himself  to 
divide  the  country  among  his  relatives,  friends,  and 
dependants. 

Linguistic  evidence  would  tend  to  show  that  the 
Nsyars  belongs  to  the  Dravidian  race  family.  Speaking 
of  the  Malayalam  language,  the  mother-tongue  of  the 
Nayars,  Dr.  Caldwell  observes  that  “it  claims  to  be 
placed  next  to  Tamil  in  the  list  of  Dravidian  tongues, 
on  account  of  the  peculiarly  close  relationship  it  bears 
to  Tamil  in  which  it  abounds.”  He  therefore  calls  it 
a  “very  ancient  and  much  altered  offshoot*  *  of  Tamil. 
On  thie  other  hand,  Dr.  Gundert  the  eminent 
Malayalam  scholar,  holds  that  “the  two  languages 
(Tamil  and  Malayalam)  of  old  differed  rather  as 
dialects  of  the  same  member  of  the  Dravidian  family 
than  as  separate  languages.”  Both  scholars  however 
agree  in  giving  it  a  Dravidian  origin.  Notwithstanding 
the  copious  introduction  of  Sanskrit  that  has  taken 
place  in  recent  years,  the  Dravidian  element  still  pre¬ 
dominates  in  the  language  in  its  most  clemently  form. 
Words  expressive  of  near  relationship,  of  the  most 
absolute  rights  of  property  in  land,  etc.,  are  all  distinct¬ 
ly  Dravidian. 

It  is  contended  by  some  that  the  Nayars  colonised 
Malabar  along  with  the  Brahmans,  and  that  they  are  of 
Aryan  descent.  Their  physical  features,  the  colour  of 


IntrocL]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  169 

their  skin,  their  position  in  the  social  scale,  their  being 
associated  with  the  Brahmans  in  all  important  Brahma- 
nical  ceremonies,  the  military  order  to  which  they 
belong,  all  these  are  pointed  out  as  unmistakable  proofs 
of  their  Aryan  descent.  The  latest  suggestion  regard¬ 
ing  the  Aryan  origin  of  the  NSyars  comes  from  Mr. 
Fawcett l,  though  he  takes  care  to  add  that“it  is  not  yet 
time  to  say  whether  they  are  or  are  not  ‘Dravidians.’” 
He  observes>“To  the  ordinary  visitor  their  outward  ap¬ 
pearance,  customs,  habitations,  mode  of  life  generally, 
are  very  different  from  what  he  sees  in  the 
Telugu  or  Tamil  countries;  for  Malabar,  ‘the  west 
coast',  is  as  unlike  the  rest  of  the  Presidency 
as  Burmah.  The  only  other  district  of  the  Madras 
Presidency  which  resembles  Malabar  is  Ganjam,  more 
particularly  the  northern  part  of  it,  where  the  people 
are  almost  entirely  Aryans.  The  resemblance  between 
these,  the  Uriyas  of  Guntur  and  thereabouts,  a  fine 
fighting  stock,  and  the  Nsyars  of  Malabar  is  very  strik¬ 
ing.  It  is  not,  perhaps,  a  mere  coincidence  that  in 
these  two  furthest  remote  corners  of  the  Presidency 
alone,  the  people  at  large  are  to  be  seen  wearing  um¬ 
brella  hats  to  protect  them  from  the  sun.”  In  the  cast 
of  features,  in  the  habits  and  customs,  many  have 
noticed  a  close  resemblance  between  the  Bengalees  and 
the  Nayars.  There  is  a  remarkable  similarity  even  in 
the  development  of  their  literature. 

1.  Madras  Museum  Bulletin  Vol.  Ill,  No.  3,  p.  187. 

2.  The  report  of  the  Jenmi-Kudiyan  Committee  has  the 
following  remarks  on  this’question:  “The  Coorgs  and  the  Marathos 
who  are  treated  as  Sytho-Dravidians,  do  not  differ  in  essential 
respects  from  the  Nayars,  and  there  is  sufficient  warrant  for  the 
conclusion  that  the  Coorgs  and  the  Nayars  are  racially  con¬ 
nected”  (p.  19).  In  another  part  of  the  Report  (p.  26),  it  says: 
“Serpent  worship,  recognition  of  kinship  in  the  female  line, 
strong  attachment  to  national  customs,  love  of  power  ;  sense 
of  political  independence,  manliness  and  martial  spirit  charact¬ 
erise  the  Basques.  The  description  of  the  Basque  in  whom  these 
attributes  predominate  could,  word  for  word,  be  made  applicable 
to  the  Nayar  in  his  palmiest  days.  Communal  rights  in  family 

V. 


17a  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.  20. 

The  question  whether  the  Nsyars  are  of  Aryan  or 
of  Dravidian  origin  is,  one  of  considerable  doubt  and 
difficulty.  In  physical  features,  one  may  contend,  it 
is  difficult  to  say  for  certain  that  the  Naipbutiri  or  the 
Njyar  differs  materially  from  his  brother  of  the  East 
Coast.  The  colour  of  the  skin,  he  will  say,  is  no  sure 
index  of- the  race  to  which  a  man  may  belong.  It  is 
perhaps  the  most  evasive  of  tests  applied  to  determine 
a  race.  If  it  shows  anything  at  all,  it  tells  you  at  once 
of  his  occupation.  Among  those  that  inhabit  Malabar, 
we  have  in  fact  almost  every  grade  of  colour.  The 
Nambutiri  Brahman,  who  never  exposes  himself  to  the 
tropical  sun  unless  well  clothed  and  sheltered  beneath  his 
broad  and  shady  umbrella,  who,  as  Jenmi,  or  freehold 
proprietor  of  the  land,  is  not  unfrequently  rich,  and  who, 
by  the  privilege  of  his  class  need  not  and  has  no>t  ever 
earned  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  is  seldom  if 
ever  brown;  he  is  oftener  a  dingy  white.  His  wife  who 
seldom  stirs  out  of  her  house  is  also,  as  a  rule,  often 
fair.  The  well-to-do  Nayar  whose  main  occupation,  at 
present,  is  to  supervise  the  cultivation  of  the  land  by 
praedial  slaves,  is  brown,  but  is  by  no  means  black  as, 
these,  his  workmen.  He  leads  an  easy  life,  lives  in  a 
substantially  built  house  placed  in  the  centre  of  a  shady 
garden  filled  with  the  jack,  mango,  and  areca-nut  trees, 
the  cocoanut  and  the  talipot  palm  whose  feathery  foli¬ 
age  affords  shelter  from  the  fierce  rays  of  the  scorching 
sun.  But  the  slave  who,  for  time  out  of  mind,  has  been 
working  in  the  fields  from  morning  to  night,  exposed 
to  the  incessant  rays  of  a  tropical  sun,  as  well  to  rain, 
wind,  and  storm,  is  invariably  black.  Even  among 
the  aborigines  those  who  live  in  forests,  and  who  do 
not  toil  and  moil  day  and  night,  like  the  slaves  of  the 
plains, are,  at  times, of  a  shade  fairer  than  these  aggrestic 
slaves.  Of  the  Mala  Aryans  of  the  Travancore  hills 
the  Revd.  Richard  Collins  says,  “They  are  undoubt¬ 
edly  a  purely  Dravidian  people,  but  are  as  fair  as  the 

property  are  said  to  be  the  characteristic  feature  of  the  Basque 
society  as  of  the  Nayar  society.’ * 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  171 

high  caste  Hindus,  proving  that  the  aborigines  of  India 
were  not  black  from  race  peculiarities,  but  only  some¬ 
times  black  through  circumstances”.1  But  this  process 
of  reasoning  will  apply  not  only  to  the  Nlyars  but  to 
the  Nambufiris  as  well. 

The  Narpbujiri  Brahmans  of  Malabar  regard  the 
Nayars  as  socially  superior  to  the  Tamil  Sudras  and 
they  associate  the  Na’yars’  with  themselves  even  in 
important  Brahmanical  ceremonies.  The  Brahmans  have 
ever  been  chary  of  according  any  privileges  to  the 
Sudras.  The  Aryan  authorities  are  very  unfavourable  to 
their  reception  into  the  Vedic  circle.  “A  Brahman  must 
not  touch  a  Sudra.  He  is  commanded  not  to  hold  con- 
verse  with  him  by  some  writers.  For  the  touch  of  a 
Sucjra,  no  end  of  penances  are  prescribed.  Even  when 
the  privilege  of  performing  certain  rites  was  conceded 
to  Scdras,  it  seems  to  have  amounted  to  little  more  than 
the  performance  of  ceremonies  without  the  recitation 
of  texts.  And  here  again  a  kind  of  distinction  appears 
to  have  been  drawn  by  which  the  Sudras  were  divided 
into  two  classes.  The  Sat  Sudras  and  the  A  sat 
SUclras,  i.  e .,  the  good  and  the  bad.  But,  on  a  critical 
examination,  very  little  substantial  difference  will  be 
perceived.  They  are  still  the  servile  class,  standing 
on  the  borders,  as  it  were,  of  the  Aryan  community, 
but :  ot  forming  an  integral  portion  of  it.  They  ,weref 
indeed,  provided  for  in  a  speculative  way  by  the  Arya 
code;  but  they  had  the  ban  of  their  class  as  a  mark  pf 
exclusion  from  the  regular  Aryans-” 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  fact  that  th< 

Malabar  Brahmans  conceded  to  the  Nayars  privileged 

that  are  denied  to  the  Sudras,  generally,  certainly 

requires  explanation.  The  arguments  of  the  advocates 

of  the  Sudra  theory  appear  plausible ,  but  are  not 

convincing.  They  say  that  the  Naipbutiris  must  have 

been  impelled  by  very  strong  political  and  economical 

motives  to  make  such  important  concessions.  On 

their  arrival  in  KSraia,  they  found  the  Nsyars  in 

§ 

i.  Mss.  Eut.  p.  225. 


1T2  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.  20. 

autnority,  whom  they  subdued  by  sheer  force  of  intellect. 
They  were,  however,  wise  enough  to  secure  the  ad¬ 
herence  of  the  conquered  by  allotting  to  them  a  posi¬ 
tion  in  the  caste  hierarchy  which  was  practically  one 
next  only  to  that  of  the  Brahmans  themselves  as  will 
appear  afterwards.  The  Nayars  had  also  to  be  employed 
in  the  supervision  of  the  cultivation  of  the  land.  The 
Natpbutiris  in  the  process  of  years,  seem  to  have 
imposed  on  them  the  belief  that  all  the  land  in  Kgraia 
was  a  freehold  gift  to  the  sacerdotal  class  by  their 
patron  Saint  P^rasu  Rama,  whom,  they  thought  it 
convenient  to  style  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  the  second 
God-head  of  the  Hindu  Trinity.  To  enjoy  ease  and 
plenty,  the  land  they  had  thus  appropriated  to  them¬ 
selves  had  to  be  cultivated.  The  Nayars  were  selected 
to  supervise  the  cultivation. 

It  was  therefore  the  interest  of  the  Brahmans  to 
hold  the  Nayars  close  to  them  and,  in  order  to  do  so, 
they  were  humoured  with  the  idea  that  they  were  alto¬ 
gether  outside  the  pale  of  what  the  Aryans  chose  to  call 
the  ‘servile  class’.  But  they  seem  to  have  taken 
special  care  not.  to  admit  them  within  the  charmed 
circle.  In  associating  the  Nayars  with  them,  the 
Natpbutiris  had  other  objects  also  to  serve.  They 
wanted  to  secure  a  strict  entail  of  their  properties  so 
that  they  might  never  be  reduced  to  indigent  circum¬ 
stances,  or  their  estates  be  frittered  away  by  frequent 
partition.  For  this  object,  they  ruled  that  only  the 
eldest  son  of  a  Nambutiri  family  need  enter  into  holy 
wedlock,  and* it  was  ordained  a  privilege  for  NSyar 
females  to  allow  the  younger  brothers  of  a  Narpbu{iri 
family  to  consort  with  them. 

It  will  be  pertinent  to  the  present  enquiry  here  to 
point  out  the  proposition  propounded  by  Baden  Powell 
as  a  reason  for  the  respect  shown  by  the  Naipbufiris 
to  the  Nayars.  He  considers  that  Nayars  are  the  K§hejf i- 
yasof  Malabar.^The  Brahminic  historians,  true  to  then- 
own  theory,  make  out  that  the  land  all  belonged  origi¬ 
nally  to  the  Brahmans*  But  inasmuch  as  military  duty, 


SIR  M.  KRISHNAN  NAYAR. 

(Formerly  the  Chief  Judge  of  the  High  Court  of  Travancore, 
and  then  the  I>iwan  there.  Now  a  Member  of  the  Executive 
Council  of/H.  E.  the  Governor  of  Madras). 


f  To  face  p.  173 


Introd.] . 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


173 


police  and  executive  rule  are  foreign  to  Brahman  life,  we 
always  find  that  the  Kshetriya  rulers  from  a  Raja  to  a 
DCiamukhyan  are  an  essential  part  of  the  system,  and 
accordingly  we  find  the  Brahminic  history  assigning 
the  ruling  and  protecting  duties  to  the  Nayars  as  repre¬ 
senting  the  Kshetriya  element.  The  Keraiotpajti 
records  the  tradition  that  Parasu  Rama  gave  the  Nayars 
the  executive  power  (lit:  the  “the  eye,  the  hand  and  the 
giving  of  orders”)  so  as  to  prevent  rights  from  being 
curtailed  or  suffered  to  fall  into  disuse.  This  clearly 
means  that  they  were  to  hold  the  executive  power. 
But  whether  from  jealousy  among  themselves  or  from 
the  comparatively  equal  power  of  the  other  castes,  no 
local  chief  was  allowed  to  elevate  himself  into  a  central 
ruler  or  sovereign.  At  first,  we  learn,  the  country 
being  allotted  into  64  nads  or  unions,  that  the  Nayars 
of  the  ten  and*a  half  fiads  furnished  a  force  for  military 
and  executive  duty.  An  elected  council  of  four  managed 
the  whole,  acting  for  twelve  years.  This  sort  of 
republican  rule,  however,  failed  to  give  satisfaction. 
We  find  that,  after  a  time,  Brahmans  were  sent  to  the 
adjoining  kingdoms  for  a  ruler;  and  for  a  long  time 
the  curious  feature  is  presented  of  a  chosen  king  rul¬ 
ing  for  twelve  years  only  (if  he  lived  so  long)  and  then 
retiring.  It  was  at  a  later  time  that  the  king  became 
permanent.”1  Dr.  E.  Thurston  also  has  the  following  in 
his  Castes  ana  Tribes  of  Southern  India r: — “The  original 
Njyars  were  undoubtedly  a  military  body,  holding 
lands  and  serving  as  a  militia.”  But  this  by  the  way.5 

.i.  Land  Systems  of  British  India,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  158. 

2.  Vol.  Vvp.  283. 

3.  The  following  facts  collected  by  M.  R.  Ry.  Rama 
Varma  Klaya  Raja  Avl.,  Chirakkal,  in  his  brochure  011  the  Nayars 
of  Malabar  (Rama  Varma  Grantha  Series,  No.  .4,  published  by 
Mary  Memorial  Press,  Kuthuparamba,  N.  Malabar)  will  serve 
as  an  interesting  contribution  for  the  solution  of  the  problem  in 
which  we  are  engaged.  In  the  Bhugola  Parana ,  one  of  the  well- 
known  Puranas,  there  is  a  description 'of  Kerala.  There  it  is  stated 
that  the  Nayars  were  originally  Kshctriyas  and  that,  out  of  fear 
for  Parasu  Rama  who  was  an  inveterate  foe  of  the  Kshetriya  race. 


174 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 

A  review  of  the  various  circumstances  above  set  forth 
leads  some  only  to  conclude  that  the  facts  adduced 
to  prove  the  Aryan  origin  of  the  Nayars  are  not  in  them¬ 
selves  sufficient  to  support  the  theory.  It  is,  say  they, 
therefore,  perhaps  safe  to  hold  for  the  present  at  any 

removed  their  holy  thread.  They  were  learned  and  skilled  in  the 
use  of  arms. 

“cr>aj)Q  j1cjuo8  amoaoj-OJKOOS  04040  cots 0103-*’ 

4 ‘(ru^o^Ocftai (g)(J0i22i oo  a^oa?.-  crogjorrinrucroi jsaj  cBHBCuafr 

(^Ooi2Srr)OCTO),l<9j(ZOCO(5)J  ffltUOQDJo 

4  4  (BT®  05  00  0  «a>a3  (0  cu  1  a  j  0  (yv  a  00  ej  0  gg  0  (qt^  qj  0  ©  co  0  3 .  ” 

The  Nayars  were  very  pleased  to  meet  the  Brahmans,  while 
they  were  equally  glad  to  meet  the  Nayars  and  to  find  them 
adepts  in  the  art  of  administration. 

i4(Bro(5)^ajla^coiajofO)(ga^cr)ocQ)c0sO8  a^cycrvocoanoal) 
<2iao')«se.uo(aTC»<2)Onr&  gaMJO  §2aO(Do^6^aaojnJO<olsrr>8 
s  co  cab  e  (0  6VD  si  6i  cio  04  sno  j  ail  a>  0  cio  qj  <s  qj  0  <a>  j  cm  0  oi> 
(g(?aainro«na)tzios)6iaoija!o  (5)8005!$  eleco  6ragp.n 

It  is  also  stated  in  B rah  manna  Puranam  that  it  was  the 
Nayarswho  protected  the  sacrificial  halls  from  the  approach  and 
poullution  of  Mlcchchas.  Some  of  these  Nayars  who  distinguished 
themselves  in  this  defence  were  honoured  with  the  title  of 
Samanthas. 

We  find  references  to  Kerala  soldiers  in  the  Bhishma  and 
Kama  Parvas.  In  the  latter,  they  are  described  as  high,  broad- 
chested,  long-armed  and  large-eyed. 

44ajo«2uoejO'no(t»f2i(orojoopsu  e<a>(Og.ooaj(Q;j^Qc9>oorf) 
e*lo^8  Q_jao ©(woo  e(53)Qa28QJO(5)Q2;^<2loaro^2lOg5S)6)sm8,' 

“C^JCOJOS  QJ ^®QDCr)<2iQO(5)0QJ06rm)jeO5110g>0g^ecfl5(0g.3 
QJ^ ecu© 0(0 ag^OS  3  CQ_)OoOOOJ3  cyLQeQl^i2JCY)08,3, 

(Also  see  the  article  on  the  “Sacred  Thread  of  the  Hindus** 
by  Pandit  Vidusekhara  Bhattacharya  in  the  July  (1923)  number 
of  the  Visvd  Bharati  Quarterly). 

The  acid  test  about  the  status  of  community  is,  in  Malabar 
at  any  rate,  the  nature  of  its  connection  with  recognised  temples. 
In  the  dawn  of  Kerala  history,  so  to  say,  one  finds  that  the  great 
temple  at  Mathilakam  was  being  controlled  by  the  Tekketath  and 
Vatakatath  Veetil  Nayars.  So  was  the  case  of  many  other  well- 
known  temples.  And,  in  spite  of  the  lapse  of  time  and  the  vicissi- 
•  tudes  of  fortune  through  which  they  have  passed,  one  can  still 
notice  vestiges  of  the  Nayar  proprietorship  over  some,  of  Nayar 
authority  over  others  of  even  temples  now  owned  by  Sirkars. 


Introd.j 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


175 


rate  that  they  are  of  Dravidian  origin  .  To  this  position 
few  will  demur.  But  serious  objection  is  raised  by  their 
protagonists  only  when  certain  Brahmans,  albeit  learned, 
make  frantic  attempts  to  make  out  that  the  Nayars  are 
$ndras.  As  to  the  three  points  raised  above,  they 
will  be  answered  in  the  course  of  this  note.  For  the 
superiority  of  Aryan  racehood  as  such  is  a  gratuitous 
assumption  in  the  opinion  of  some  eminent  ethnologists. 
Historical  .accuracy  requires  that  no  race  should  be 
classed  with  certainty  as  Aryan  or  Dravidian  unless  it 
can  be  done  so  on  clear  and  cogent  proofs. 

The  curious  similarity  between  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  Nayars  and  the  Newars  of  the  Himalayan 
ranges  of  Nepal  may  also  be  noticed  in  connection 
with  the  race  question.  Col.  Kirkpatrick,  who  points 
out  this  similarity,  observes  that  “it  is  remarkable 
enough  that  the  Newar  women  like  those  among  the 
NSyars,  may  in  fact,  have  as  many  husbands  as  they 
please,  being  at  liberty  to  divorce  them  continually  on 
the  slightest  pretence”  2.  Dr.  Bunchanan  Hamilton 
also  remarks,  “In  fact  there  are  no  two  tribes  in 
India,  except  the  Nayars  and  the  Newark,  who  are 
known  to  have  the  same  strange  notions  as  to  female 
chastity,  and  that,  coupled  with  their  architecture  and 
other,  peculiarities,  seem  to  point  to  a  similarity  of  race 
which  is  both  curious  and  interesting,  but  how  and 
when  the  connection  took  place  I  must  leave  it  to 
others  to  determine.  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  any¬ 
thing  in  the  likeness  of  the  names,  but  I  do  place  faith 
in  the  similarity  of  their  architecture  combined  with 
their  manners  and  customs”".  This  striking  similarity 
in  the  style  of  architecture  is  noticed  prominently 
by  Ferguson  in  his  History  of  India  and  Eastern  Arc  hi 
tecture .  The  similarity  Is  most  marked  in  the  District  of 

i..  “The  name  Dravidian  races  fits  only  the  Tamils, 
Telugus  and  Canarese.”  F.  Ratzel  in  his  Races  of  Man¬ 
kind .  Vol.  3,  p.  359. 

2.  Nepal,  p.  *75. 

3.  Account  of  the  Kingdom  of  Nepal,  pp.  29.  42.  52. 


176  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20, 

Canara,  and  Ferguson  says  that  he  ‘‘cannot  offer  even 
a  plausible  conjecture,  how  or  at  what  time  a  connec¬ 
tion  existed  between  Nepal  and  Tibet  and  Canara”. 
We  shall  have  presently  to  refer  to  the  all  but  uni* 
versal  prevalence  of  loose  marital  relationship  between 
the  sexes  in  the  early  stages  of  society  all  over  the 
world  which,  we  believe  accounts  for  the  strange 
notions  as  to  female  chastity  among  the  Newars  in  the 
extreme  north  and  among  the  Nsyars  in  the  extreme 
south  of  India.  As  to  the  similarity  in  the  style  of 
architecture,  we  know  that  Buddhist  and  Jain  Mission¬ 
aries  had  extended  their  proselytising  endeavours  to 
the  south  of  India  so  early  as  the  period  of  the  great 
Emperor  Asoka,  who  mentions  the  kingdom  of  Kfcraia 
in  one  of  his  edicts  as  one  of  Pratyantas  or  neighbour¬ 
ing  Kingdoms  of  his  Empire.  It  has  been  doubted 
whether  Asoka  was  a  Buddhist  or  Jain  in  religion. 
Whether  Buddhist  or  Jain,  the  emissaries  of  the  great 
Emperor  seem  to  have  brought  KSraia  within  the 
sphere  of  their  master’s  influence.2  The  similarity  we 
notice  in  the  architecture  in  the  north  and  in  the  south 
is  that  both  are  in  the  Jain  style.  A  close  observer 
will  be  impressed  with  the  striking  similarity  between 
the  temple  architecture  of  Malabar  and  Canara,  and  the 
temple  architecture  of  China,  and  it  is  a  matter  of 
known  history  that  till  but  recently  China  had  extensive 
commercial  transactions  with  the  West  Coast  of 
India. 

If  the  NStyars  were  not  the  original  inhabitants  of 
Kgraia,  but  were  settlers  from  outside,  when  and 
whence  did  they  come?  The  theory  of  the  K^raia 
MahStmyam  is  that  they  were  brought  by  Parasu  Rjjma 
alone  with  his  colonies  of  Brahmans.  Various  cir- 
cumstances  tend  to  show  that  they  were  in  Kgraia  long 

before  the  arrival  of  the  Nambutiris.  The  Mahatmyam 

1.  .p.  278 

2.  See  the  articles  by  Mr.  T.  K.  Krishna  Menon  on  Mati- 
jakam  in  Dr.  Law’s  Historical  Quarterly  Review  ot  Calcutta 
(Vol.  V,  p.  13S)  and  on  the  Kilirur  Temple  in  the  Rama  Varma 
Research  Institute  Bulletin  (Vol.  I,  No.  1),  Government  Press 
Cochin. 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  177 

-would  have  us  believe  that  the  NaipbUfiris  found 
Kerala,  at  the  time  of  their  settlement,  entirely  un¬ 
inhabited.  This  is  far  from  being  likely.  The  proba¬ 
bilities  are  that  the  immigrants  found  Kerala  occupied 
by  an  early  colony  of  agricultural  settlers.  The 
Naipbopris  themselves  have  never  been  known  to 
be  agriculturists,  and  the  VySias,  the  lowest  section  of 
the  tw"ice-born,  who  were  cultivators  by  profession, 
find  no  place  in  the  caste  economy  of  Keraia.  The 
existing  agricultural  classes  seem  not  to  have  any 
connection  whatever  with  Aryan  VySias,  and  the  fact 
that  almost  all,  if  not  all,  agricultural  terms  are  of 
non-Aryan  origin  is  a  matter  of  great  significance. 

Dr.  Caldwell  argues  from  the  Malayalam  words 
denoting  ‘East’ and  ‘West’,  Kizhaku,  meaning  ‘beneath* 
and  melku  meaning  ‘above’,  that  the  Malaysils  must 
have  come  from  the  Tamil  country  east  of  the  Ghauts 
since  there  they  had  the  low  level  of  the  oceans  on  the 
east  and  the  high  level  of/  the  Ghaut  mountains  on  the 
west.  He  observes  that  the  Malayslls  had  emigrated 
at  an  early  date  from  the  east,  and  this  was  the  reason 
for  the  people  of  the  two  coasts  having  languages 
akin  to  each  other.  To  this  argument,  Dr.  Gundert 
answers  that,  ‘‘if  the  analogous  progress  of  the  Aryans 
to  the  south  be  considered,  it  will  appear  probable 
that  the  Dravidians,  like  the  Aryans,  formed  settle¬ 
ments  on  the  West  Coast  first  and  afterwards  crossed 
over  to  the  Eastern.”  This  argum:nt  would  appear 
to  prove  too  much.  For,  as  observed  by  Dr.  Cald.vell, 
“it  would  require  us  to  regard  the  whale  Tamil  people 
as  immigrants  from  the  Western  Coast,  and  the  Tam  1 
Language  an  offshoot  from  Malayalam.  The  geogra¬ 
phical  and  philological  difficulties  in  the  way  of  both 
these  suppositions  ap  ear  to  be  insuperable.”  Suc¬ 
cessive.  batches  of  immigrants  seem  to  have  converged 
towards  Keraia  from  different  pirts,  and  at  different 
times,  and  become  so  mingled  that  it  is  not  possible 
at  present  to  differentiate  the  various  elements  that 
went  to  form  the  Nsyar  community.  The  evidence  of 

W, 


178  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  so. 

language  may  tend  to  show  that,  while  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  community  consists  of  the  descendants 
of  Tamil  immigrants,  there  are  among  them  those 
whose  ancestors  belonged  originally  to  the  Telugu, 
the  Canarese,  and  other  groups  of  the  Dravidian  stock. 
We  have  already  shown  that  the  NaipbUfiris  emi¬ 
grated  from  the  banks  of  the  Krishna,  the  Godaveri 
and  other  rivers,  and  it  is  most  likely  that  their 
followers  brought  with  them  their  language  which 
made  permanent  additions  to  the  Malayalam  tongue, 
e.g .'Thantha*  (father),  Illam ,  (house), Thalia*  (mother), 
Uflit  (onion),  are  evident  modifications  of  the  Telugu 
words  Thandru  Illu,  Tallin  and  Uelli  respectively. 
Similarly  we  find  Canarese  words  such  as  Mana 
(house)  in  the  Malayalam  language. 

The  occupation  of  Kfrala  by  the  early  Dravidian 
tribes  must  have  taken  place  in  almost  pre-historic 
times,  and  all  theories  regarding  the  time  when  and 
the  region  whence  they  came  must  be  purely  conject¬ 
ural.  Wanting  historical  records,  one  can  only  try 
to  trace  survivals  of  rudimentary  features  common  in 
communities  inhabiting  different  parts  which  may 
possibly  afford  a  clue  to  a  common  origin-  On  the 
authority  of  Baden  Powell’s  observations  regarding 
the  Kolarian  tribes  of  Chota  Nagapur,  the  Cochin 
Census  Report  seeks  to  find  some  similarity  between 
them  and  the  Nayars.  That  writer  has  observed  that 
“those  people  (the  Kolarians  of  Chota  Nagapur)  were 
organised  in  tribes  and  they  established  the  territorial 
divisions  still  known  as  Nad" .  He  further  notes  that 
“the  Chota  Nagapur  country  is  admirably  adopted 
to  secure  the  preservation  of  old  tribal  forms  of  settle¬ 
ment,  since  it  is  fertile  within  and  unaccessible  to 
enemies  from  without,  and  it  does  not  lie  in  the  track 
of  many  of  the  greater  military  movements  known  in 
history.  Here  we  have  distinct  evidence  that  the 
Kolarian  population  was  in  part  let  alone,  and  in  part, 
combined  with  tor  supplemented)  by  Dravidians,  and 
all  came  under  later  Dravidian  rulers.”  Having  quoted 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


179 


these  passages  of  Mr.  Baden  Powell,  the  Census  Re¬ 
porter  remarks,  “Except  for  the  fact;  that  tribes  that 
settled  in  Kgrala  came  also  under  Aryan  supremacy, 
all  the  conditions  and  circumstances  above  set  forth 
are  strictly  true  of  Kerala.  In  the  same  connection 
he  observes,  that  those  tribes  made  small  territories 
for  tribal  sections  locally  known  as  Pafah.  In  the 
Agricultural  and  Land  Revenue  language  of  KSraia, 
no  word  is  more  familiar  than  the  word  parah,  which  is 
here  applicable  to  a  plot  of  agricultural  land  measuring 
2/25  of  an  acre.1'  The  analogies  pointed  out  are  too 
slender  to  construct  a  theory  upon,  though  the  simila* 
rity  in  the  use  of  the  terms  Na<J  and  Pafah  are  seduc* 
tive  enough  to  induce  one  to  detect  some  sort  of 
identity,  illusory  though  it  be,  between  the  two  races. 
The  Census  Reporter  goes  on  to  observe  that  there 
are  other  features  of  tribal  and  village  systems  of 
Kgrala  that  seem  to  correspond  in  many  respects  to  the 
mixed  Kolarian  and  Dravidian  systems  of  Chota  Naga* 
pur.  What  these  are  he  does  not  unfortunately  tell  us. 
An  inquiry  into  these  will  certainly  be  very  useful  and 
is  likely  to  lead  to  important  and  interesting  historical 
results. 

Hemmed  in  on  three  sides  by  natural  barriers,  the 
sea  in  the  south  and  the  west  and  the  mountains  of  the 
ghauts  on  the  east,  the  north  was  the  main  route  left 
free  for  colonists  to  enter  Kerala.  Of  course  the 
break  in  the  chain  of  mountains  that  occurs  here  and 
there  along  the  line  of  the  ghauts  served  as  openings 
for  the  migration  of  adventurous  tribes  from  the  east, 
though  difficult.  It  is  difficult,  almost  impossible,  to 
fix  with  any  amount  of  accuracy  the  period  of  the  origi¬ 
nal  settlement.  We  have  observed  that  the  Brahmans 
found,  on  their  arrival  in  Kerala,  the  Nayars  in  posses¬ 
sion  of  the  country;  in  fact  they  were  the  ruling  race. 
If  so,  they  must  have  settled  in  the  land  long  before  the 
Narpbufiris,  the  period  of  whose  emigration  has  beeft 
shown  to  be  anterior  to  B.  C.  300.  If  the  NarSe  of 
Megasthenes  have  any  reference  to  the  Ngyars  of 


180  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  ao. 

Malabo,  they  must  have  colonised  Kerala  some  time 
before  the  period  of  Megasthenes. 

It  would  seem  that,  after  settling  in  Malabar,  the 
Nayars  had  thrown  out  colonies  into  different  parts  of 
the  globe’.1  Miquel  Balboa  attributes  the  settlement  of 
Southern  Chile  to  pirates  from  the  East  Indies,  whom 
he  calls  Naiyres,  and  Bandelier  in  a  note  adds  that“the 
Nayres  were  originally  from  Malabar;  I  am  informed  by 
Dr.Berthold  Laufer  the  distinguished  student  of  eastern 
Asiatic  Anthropology.”  Balboa  traces  the  career  of 
these  people  over  nearly  like  the  whole  eastern  world, 
making  a  part  <jf  them  finally  land  near  the  southern 
extremity  of  America.  According  to  him,  they  were  “the 
origin  and  trunk  of  the  Indians  of  Chile,  from  whom 
also  descended  the  Cheriguanaes  or  (rather)  Chiliganes. 
By  these  were  made  those  strange  fortifications  that  in 
Ayavira  and  Tiagnacs  (and  in  other  parts  of  this 
section  of  the  world)  are  seen  etc.2 

“After  the  ‘Nayres’  had  conquered  the  austral  regions, 
they  penetrated  inland  and  were  never  afterwards  heard 

1  “Dravidian  culture  can  be  affiliated  not  only  to  the 
Asrra  or  Miindan,  but  to  foreign  cultures  like  the  Sumerian 
Chaldean,  Aegean,  Etruscan  and  Egyptian  **  The  high  status  of 
Dravidian  women  probably  accounts  tor  the  conception  of  mother 
goddess.  Among  other  non- Ary  an  accomplishments  of  the  Vedic 
age,  which  also  answer  to  the  Dravidian,  may  be  mentioned  magic 
and  medicine  and  excellence  in  architecture. 

The  greatest  achieve  rent  of  the  Dravidian  was  in  the  art  of 
navigation.  1  he  Indian  ship  was  vc~y  like  the  Egyptian  as  we 
see  it  in  a  fifth  dynasty  painting,  a  long  and  wall-sided  vessel 
with  the  stern  and  stem  highly  raised,  and  with  oars  arranged  in 
banks.  The  Dravidian  paddle  was  round,  not  spade-like  in  form 
as  in  ancient  Ctina,  or  very  long  as  in  undent  Egypt.  There  are 
words  in  the  Dravidian  Umuags  for  boats  of  all  sizes— the 
raft,  the  dug-out  and  the  decked  vessel.  Theie  are  words  there 
for  the  oar,  sail,  mast  and  anchor.  Taere  are  Sanskrit  borrowings 
of  several  nautical  terms  from  Dravidian  lmguages**.  (Pp.  io  and 
ii  of  Indian  Culture  through  the  Ages’*.  Mysore  University 
series,  Vol.  I.  by  Prof.  S.  V.  V.  ncareswaran,  M.  A.).  Though  the 
word  Dravidian  is  here  used,  the  statements  apply  more  to  Kerala 
t  r  tc  aDy  other  part  of  ancient  Dravidian  India.  Ed. 

2.  Chap.  19,  fol.  2$z. 


Introd.)  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  181 

from.  Their  intrusion  on  these  our  Indies  is  conjecture, 
for  the  reason  that  old  Indians  state  they  have  it  from 
ancient  traditions  of  their  forefathers,  who  told  them 
that  from  that  part  of  the  world  there  came  these  pesti¬ 
ferous  tyrants  [the  Nayres],  and  those  of  Chile  say  the 
same,  pointing  out  that  they  came  from  this  side  of  the 
straits  which  we  call  of  Magadan.”  Commenting  on 
the  above,  Bandelier  remarks,  “This  passage  is  con¬ 
fused.  In  the  first  place,  Balboa  says  that  nothing 
was  known  or  learned  about  the  ‘Nayres*  after  they 
had  once  penetrated  inland,  yet  he  attributes  to  them 
the  contribution  of  ancient  edifices  near  Ayaviri 
(probably  the  remains  of  Pucara  are  meant)  and 
Tiahnanco.  Again,  he  intimates  that  the  NSyres  were 
the  original  inhabitants  and  settlers,  whereas  he  also 
states  that  the  Indians  of  Chile  spoke  of  them  as  ruth¬ 
less  invaders.  All  this  shows  that  he  has  arranged, 
but  not  objectively  rendered,  the  traditions  claimed  by 
him  to  be  original  and  primitive*  What  might  possibly 
be  gathered  from  his  statements  is  that  there  existed 
in  his  time,  among  the  Indians  of  Chile,  lore*  perhaps 
ancient,  relative  to  landings  on  the  southern  Chilean 
Coast  of  people  coming  from  the  direction  of  Asia. 
This  is  said  with  very  proper  reserve.”  1 

We  have  had  occasion  to  notice  the  notorious 
piratical  character  of  the  early  Malayalls,  of  which 
we  have  accounts  on  record,  from  the  days  of  the 
early  Greek  Geographers  to  those  of  European  travel¬ 
lers  of  the  17th  and  18th  centuries,  only  that  the  later 
pirates  happen  to  be  Msppillas  (Moors)  rather  than 
Nsyars.  However  that  be,  there  are  undoubted  indi¬ 
cations  which  go  to  show  that  the  Malayans  had 
ventured  to  go  abroad  and  form  colonies.  We  have 
already  referred  to  traces  of  colonies  made  by  the  Hindus 
in  Arabia  and  elsewhere  and  especially  in  the  isiand  of 
Socotra  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gulf  of  Aden  as  also 


x.  American  Anthropologist .  N.  S.  1925  pp,  257 — 267. 


182  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

to  traces  ofMalaySli  settlements  mentioned  by  Strabu 
in  Arabia  Felix.  1 

1.  The  following  extracts  from  the  Report  of  the  Travancore  Jenmi- 
Kudiyan  Committee  may  be  perused  with  advantage  in  connection 
with  the  subject  we  have  been  considering— (page  31  et  seq.):- 
“Mr.  John  Campbell  in  his  work  on  the  Hittites  has  made  some 
interesting  observations,  which  appear  to  throw  a  flood  of  light 
on  the  genesis  of  Kerala  and  the  origin  of  the  Nayars.  He  says 
that  the  Niquirians  of  Nicaragua  are  Southern  Nahuatl  ( k  being 
modified  into  v  and  tl  into*').  The  greatest  of  the  Hittite  families, 
which  the  Assyrian  and,  before  them,  the  Egyptian  inscriptions 
held  to  represent  the  whole  of  the  Hittite  people,  was  that  of  the 
Assyrian  Nairi  and  the  Egyptian  Naharina.  Their  capital  was 
Khupascai,  the  Thapascus  of  the  classical  geographers  and  the 
Tipsach  of  the  Hebrews,  In  India,  the  prefix  Khu  or  Tha  was 
lost,  and  the  Pisachas  came  to  be  representatives  of  the  Khupa- 
scians.  These  Pisachas  were  associated  with  Rakshasas  and  Nagas 
who  were  Nairritas.  A11  ancient  document  classifies  the  Etruscans 
of  Italy  in  the  same  category,  making  their  tribal  divisions  Tusci, 
Naharci  and  Japusci ;  and  the  Basques  of  the  Pyrenees  reproduce 
the  nomenclature  in  their  divisions  of  Navarre  and  Guipuscoi. 
In  the  Navarese  and  Naharci,  the  Scythic  Neuri  of  Herodotus 
may  be  found,  as  well  as  the  Nairi  of  the  Assyrians  and  the 
Nahuatl,  Navatl  or  Niquirians  of  America. 

“It  is  stated  further  on  that  Syria  is  a  Greek  adaptation  of 
the  Native  Kera,  probably  identical  with  the  Basque  Herri,  the 
Etruscan  Kara  (country)  which  survives  in  the  Japanese  Kori 
(province),  but  finds  its  modern  exponent  in  Korea,  anciently 
called  Karo,  meaning  the  land.  Kera,  therefore,  is  the  national 
land  of  the  Hittites,  the  country  in  contradistinction  to  all  other 
parts  of  the  earth  *  *  * 

“Mr.  Jagadish  Chatterji  of  Kashmir  seeks  to  prove  that  the 
so-called*  Aryan  invaders  of  India  are  a  composite  race  made  up 
of  several  tribes,  who  dwelt  about  the  region  of  the  Black  Sea, 
Asia  Miner  and  elsewhere,  and  who  brought  into  their  new  colony 
names  of  places,  persons  and  things  connected  with  their  earlier 
abode.  *  *  *  He  also  holds  that  that  composite  race 

consisted  also  of  other  elements  which  went  to  make  up  the 
nationalities  of  the  Babylonians,  the  Egyptians,  the  Afghans  and 
the  Hebrews,  and  that  some  of  the  ancestors  of  these  races  as 
well  as  of  the  Chinese  had  their  common  home,  along  with  the 
Aryans,  in  and  about  Pontes  and  Armenia  *  *  * 

“Mr.  John  Campbell’s  book  on  the  Hittites  shows  that  the 
Hittites  migrated  in  all  directions.  That  they  were  Turanians 


Intred.i  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  18$ 

Their  caste  position .  We  have  already  observed 
that  the  NaipbUfiris  have  accorded  to  the  Nsyars  a  posi¬ 
tion  in  the  caste  scale  that  the  Brahmans  of  the  East 
Coast  have  not  accorded  to  the  Sndras  there,  and  that 
to  this  they  were,  according  to  some,  compelled  by 
political  and  social  necessity.  On  entering  Kgrala, 
the  Brahmans  found  the  Nayars  in  possession  of  the 
country.  They  were,  as  described  by  the  Kgralo{paJ$i, 
the  people  of  the  ‘eye’,  the  hand,  and  the  ‘order’,  and  it 
was  their  duty  to  preserve  the  rights  of  the  people 
from  being  curtailed  or  infringed-  The  social  and 
political  organisation  of  the  Nayars  which  created  and 
maintained  these  rights  and  privileges  will  be  noticed 
later  on.  In  fact,  the  Nayars  were  in  the  words  of 

is  clear.  The  Etruscans  and  the  Basques  belong  to  the  same  stock. 
The  names  Navarrese,  Naharci,  Nairi,  Neuri,  Nairritas  and  News 
may  be  connected  with  them  *  *  * 

**  That  Cheran  Chenkuttuvan  led  an  expedition  up  to  the 
Himalayan  regions  and  that  a  Karnataka  dynasty  reigned  in 
Nepal  are  historical  facts.  This  dynasty  was  established  with 
the  help  of  the  Newars  who  had  warlike  instincts  like  the  Nayars. 
At  this  distance  of  time  it  is  difficult  to  localise  Nayera  from 
which  Newars  are  said  to  have  been  drawn.  The  Indica  of 
Megasthenes,  describing  the  valley  of  the  Indus  and  the  adjoining 
parts,  says:  “  Next  follow  the  Narae  enclosed  by  the  loftiest  of 
Indian  mountains,  the  Capitalia”.  It  is  said  that  Capitalia  is 
Mount  Abu  and  that  Narae  recalls  the  name  of  Nayar,  which  the 
Rajput  chronicles  apply  to  the  northern  belt  of  the  desert.  *  * 
Nayar  in  Rajputana  might,  for  aught  we  know,  have  been  the 
first  Indian  home  of  the  Nayar  branch  of  the  Dravidian  race,  and 
they  might  have,  after  their  immigration  into  Malabar,  applied 
the  name  to  themselves  *  *  *  It  may  be  asserted  that  no 
Karnataka  king  is  likely  to  have  enlisted  soldiers  from  an  un¬ 
known  region,  but  Karnataka  or  Kanara,  which  was  under  Chalu- 
kyan  kings,  might  have  supplied  the  soldiers  who  helped  Nanya 
Deva  to  overthrow  the  last  Malla  or  Rajput  King  of  Nepal.  It  is 
well-known  that  long  afterwards  the  Vijayanagar  dynasty  drove 
out  Nayars  from  Kanara.  *  *  *  Ahichhtra  in  India  is  the  place 
from  which  Brahmans  ar:  said  to  have  been  brought  into  Malabar 
by  Mayura  Varma.  It  is  not  Very  far  fom  the  desert,  the  north¬ 
ern  belt  of  which  is  styled  Nayar  in  the  Rajput  chronicles.  *  * 
Alichhatra  was  evidently  a  stronghold  of  the  Nagas,  chief  among 
whom  were  the  Madras,  the  Gandharas,  and  the  Baihikas”.  Ed, 


164  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  id. 

Mr.  Logan  “the  ruling  race’*  who,  under  the  system  of 
the  Aryans,  ought  to  belong  to  the  K§hejfiya  caste.Tfce 
Brahmans  were  indeed  their  intellectual  superiors, 
and  had,  by  the  sheer  force  of  their  intellect,  obtained 
complete  ascendancy  over  the  ruling  race.  But  they 
had  to  depend  upon  the  Nayars  to  defend  the  country 
against  aggressions  from  without.  They  themselves 
were  but  few  in  numbers,  and  were  not  apparently  a 
fighing  class.  As  observed  by  Mr.  Logan,  ‘‘they  had 
no  sufficient  body  of  ‘protectors’  of  their  own  race  to 
fall  back  upon,  so  they  had  perforce  to  acknowledge  as 
‘protectors'  the  aboriginal  ruling  race — the  Nairs~ 
whom  they  designated  ‘Sudras*  but  in  reality  treated 
as  K^heffiyas.  If  their  ‘protectors’  were  called  Sticjras 
(servile  classes),  then  the  classes  below  Sudras  would 
not  have  any  footing  in  the  original  Aryan  organisation 
*  *  *  The  real  facts  seerns  to  have  been  That 

the  Aryans  who  introduced  the  political  system  of 
caste  into  Malabar  were  unwilling  to  raise  even  the 
aboriginal  ruling  race  to  the  dignity  of  the  pure 
K$hefriya  caste  of  Aryans.  Very  possibly  they  were 
Kh^ejfiyas  themselves  who  introduced  the  system.  And 
yet  the  state  organization  required  that  there  should  be 
a  protector  or  K$hetriya  caste,  so  they  solved  the  diffi¬ 
culty  by  inventing  a  term — Nayen,  plural  Nayar  (Skt* 
leader,  soldier),  and  by  applying  it  to  the  caste  whom 
they  constituted  ‘protectors’^  and  yet  treated  as  Sudras 
{servile  class).”  “In  this  way  it  was”,  adds  Mr.  Logan, 
“that  the  Nairs  came  to  be  treated  as  outside  the  caste 
system  altogether” — a  unique  position  which  finds  no 
parallel  in  the  Hindu  religiQus  or  political  system 
elsewhere.  We  have  ,  seen  that  the  Nambufiris  bad 
also  constituted  the  Nayars  ‘supervisors*  and  ‘trustees* 
of  their  landed  estates,  so  that  their  most  important, 
most  consequential,  and  most  acceptable  function  in 
the  body  politic  was  the  protection  of  the  land  and  its 
people — the  function  accorded  by  the  Hindu  political 
system  to  the  K§he{fiya  caste.  This  theory  is  no  new  one 
started  by  Ivlr*  Logan.  Before  him  Dr.  Gundert  deiined 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  185 

the  Nayars  as  the  Sudras  of  Keraia,  raised  to  the  rank 
of  K$he{riyas  by  their  intimate  connection  with  the  Brah¬ 
mans.  The  French  traveller  Thevenot,  writing  half  a 
century  before  Visscher,  observes  of  the  Nayars  that 
“they  had  a  great  conceit  of  their  nobility  because  they 
fancied  themselves  to  be  descended  from  the  sun”.  All 
K§he$riyas  claim  descent  either  from  the  sun  or  the  moon. 
In  1409,  Ma  Huan,  speaking  of  Cochin,  observes:  “The 
Nayars  rank  with  the  King.”  The  Brahmans  themselves 
accord  this  position  to  the  Nayars.  In  a  Sanskrit  work 
called  Kerala  Kshiti  Ratna  Mala  (A  garland  of  gems 
of  the  land  of  Kgrala)  the  author  says: — 

“Some  of  them  (the  Nayars)  are  superior  warriors 
even  amongst  warriors.  All  the  gods  take  to  them, 
(verse  1 1 5.) 

Though  these  warriors  be  Kshetrya- Sudras ,  they 
should  be  honoured  even  by  the  Brahmans  (verse  116). 

Even  the  mightiest  lord  should  get  up  on  seeing 
them,  /.  e.t  should  not  sit  in  their  presence  out  of  res¬ 
pect  for  them.  The  life  of  those  who  rule  over  the 
land  rests  on  the  weapons  (of  warriors),  and  to  those 
who  possess  such  weapons  they  are  preceptors  ^ verse 
1 17).” 

In  a  recent  work  in  Malayalam,  entitled  Prachina 
Malayalam  or  ‘Ancient  Malabar’,  a  native  scholar  of 
great  learning  and  ability  strongly  combats  the  view 
that  the  Nayars  are  Sudras.  He  is  of  opinion  that  they 
are  the  descendants  of  the  original  Nagas  and  are 
Dravidians,  and  are  really  K^hetriyas.1. 

Their  organisation.  In  giving  an  account  of  the 
National  Assemblies  of  Malabar,  we  have  shown  how 
the  country  had  been  divided  into  DeSams  and  Nads 
for  purposes  of  civil  and  military  administration.  These 
divisions  were  the  result  of  the  evolution  and  development 
of  society  and  not  of  the  arbitrary  act  of  any  particular 
i.  (bee  Cochin  Tribes  and  Castes  by  Rao  Bahadur  L.  K. 
Anantakrishna  Ayyar,  Vol.  II,  p.  2;  also  Dr.  C.  F.  Oldham’s  *2 he 
Sun  and  Serpent  Worship%  Chap.  VII,  pp.  162-5.);  (see  also  the 
Editor’^aote  at  the  end  cf  this  Note  on  Nayars)* 


136  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

person  or  group  of  persons.  We  may  reasonably  pre¬ 
sume  that  the  early  settlers  had  organised  themselves 
into  tribes,  and  appropriated  to  themselves  land  suited 
for  cultivation.  Each  tribal  section  grouped  itself  into 
clans  under  the  lead  of  the  elder  or  the  more  competent 
among  them,  and  took  possession  of  such  land  as  they 
could  lay  hand  on,  ‘clearing  waste  by  expelling  the 
owners  or  by  enslaving  them*.  Even  at  the  present 
moment  we  see  this  process  going  on,  of  course  in  a 
lesser  degree.  Squatters  settle  on  patches  of  waste  land 
in  the  interior,  clear  waste,  cultivate  it,  and  finally  have 
the  land  assessed  as  theirs  in  the  Government  registry. 
But  at  present  there  is  no  scope  for  colonies  making 
such  settlements  as  in  the  good  old  days.  The  lands 
appropriated  by  the  several  tribes,  sections  and  clans 
ca'me  to  be  known  as  tar  as, -a  Dra  vidian  word  meaning 
originally  a  foundation.  It  is  possible  that  such  of 
those  who  were  unable  to  occupy  any  land  took  to 
professions  other  than  agricultural.  In  course  of  time, 
the  tar3s  or  villages  had  to  be  multiplied  as  the  tribes 
and  clans  increased  in  number,  and  began  to  occupy 
and  bring  under  cultivation  new  localities.  It  is  signi¬ 
ficant  that,  throughout  Keiaia,  the  Nsyars  are  divided 
into  sections  known  by  the  same  caste  names  irrespec¬ 
tive  of  the  localities  they  inhabit.  Another  peculiar 
feature  with  them  is  that  each  family  (taravvadj  is  knoivn 
by  a  separate  name,  and  where  one  family  branches  off 
into  different  sections,  they  take  care  not  to  drop  the 
original  family  name.  In  Keraia,  the  feeling  of  kin¬ 
ship  is  diffused  over  a  very  wide  circle,  wider  perhaps 
than  anywhere  else  in  India.  All  property  is  joint,  the 
family  indissoluble,  however  large,  however  distant  in 
blood  relationship  the  head  may  be  from  the  youngest 
member.  The  family  is  founded  on  a  matriarchal  basii 
‘The  heirs  of  a  given  ancestor  and  their  heirs  in  turn 
continue  to  live  together  upon  the  common  inheri- 
ance,  with  a  comfnon  dwelling  and  a  common 
mess.  A  tarawad  has  its  Enangans  or  Macham- 
pikkar *  families  allied  to  it,  between  whom 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  187 

marriage  and  social  communion  is  allowed*  These 

with  their  several  branches  may  be  taken  to  form  a 

clan.  Two  or  more  such  clans  having  the  same  social 

status  go  to  make  a  tribal  section  or  Jsti  or  sub-caste. 

The  Tara  was  the  Nayar  territorial  unit  of  organisation 

for  civil  purposes,  and  was  governed  by  representatives 

of  the  caste,  who  were  styled  Karanavars  or  elders. 

There  seems  to  have  been  four  families  to  each  tara. 

» 

Originally  the  Nayar  community  seems  to  have  been 
grouped  into  the  “six  hundred”,  the  “five  hundred”, 
the  “five  thousand”,  etc.,  each  of  these  being  perhaps 
sections  composed  of  as  many  individuals  or  as  many 
families,  most  probably  the  latter.  A  further  grouping 
was  that  of  the  taras  into  Nads.  There  being  four 
families  to  a  tara,  150  taras  went  to  make  a  Nad  of  the 
‘six  hundred’,  and  so  011.  We  have  already  referred  to 
the  division  of  the  land  into  Desams  and  Nads  for 
military  purpose.  These  divisions  and  the  functions 
allotted  to  each  subsisted  almost  up  to  the  British 
occupation  of  Malabar,  and  in  some  instances  seem  to 
have  lingered  longer.  For  Mr.  Logan  observes,  in 
connection  with  the  measures  adopted  by  Major  Mac- 
clod,  first  Principal  Collector  of  Malabar,  and  his  assist¬ 
ants,  to  whom  Government  had  committed  all  power 
both  civil  and  military,  the  latter  being  further  author¬ 
ised  to  punish  “by  summary  process,  crimes  of  every 
description”,  until  the  military  power  of  the  company 
shall  have  subjected  the  refractory  people  of  the  Pro¬ 
vince:— “The  lava  organisation  of  the  Nayars,  albiet 
crushed  by  the  Mysorean  supremacy,  was  not  al¬ 
together  dead,  and  it  only  needed  some  acts  of  palpable 
injustice  to  rouse  the  whole  community  into  violent 
opposition  to  the  new  race  of  rulers”  h 

Personal  names .  Generally  the  personal  names 
employed  used  to  be  exclusively  Dravidian,  but  these 
are  fast  going  out,  being  replaced  by  names  of  Sanskrit 
origin,  derived  from  Puranic  sources,  and  therefore 
Aryan. 

1,  Page  538  of  his  Malabar  Manual. 


18S  LETTER Sj )F ROM  MALABAR  fL.  20, 

Males . 

Kunchu 

Kunnan 

Chattu 
•  » 

Otenan 
• 

Komappan 

Iksha 
• 

Rairu 

Tenchu 

Manchu 

Panchu 

Roman 

Ikkoman 

Ittikoman 
•  • 

Ittikandappan 
Ki5ppu 

Pel  names • 

Ammunni 
♦  • 

Appiin^i 
Kuttan 
Appu* 

Kuttappan 
Ponnu 

etc.,  etc. 

At  present,  the  names  of  Puranic  deities,  such 
as,  Raman,  Krishnan,  Sankaran.  Madhavan,  etc.,  for 
males,  and  Parvati,  Lakshmi,  Devaki,  Kallyani,  Nara- 
yani,  etc#,  for  females,  are  common. 

Titular  suffixes • — In  Travancore,  Piiiai,  Cheiri- 
pakaraman,  Tarppi#  These  are  peculiar  to  Travan¬ 
core. 

Pillai  was  once  a  title  of  distinction  granted  as  a 
mark  of  royal  favour.  The  conferring  of  the  title  is 
known  as  Tirumukham  Kodukkuka .  Before  the  title 
was  conferred,  an  enquiry  was  made  as  to  the  caste, 
the  social  position,  etc.,  of  the  person  to  be  honoured 
with  it.  It  was  held  in  such  high  esteem  that  even  a 
Brahman  Dewan,  Sanku  A$n2vi,  sought  for  and 
obtained  the  dignity.  The  person  honoured  has  the 

term  Tirumukathu  Kanakka  prefixed  to  his  name. 
If  Nsyars,  both  males  and  females  are  styled  Piiiai. 


Females 

Kavu 

Kurumpa 

Kali 

Tuli 

Ichi 

Kunchi 

Kunnippiiia 

Tai 

• 

Ikkavu 

Rufinikkavu 

Nangeli 

Ittuli 


Pet  names • 
Ammu 
Arr.mini 
KSyi,  * 

Pappu 

etc.,  etc. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  189 

Chempakaraman . — This  is  a  titular  distinction 
higher  than  that  of  Piiiai,  and  may  be  said  to  correspond 
to  the  knighthood  of  Western  nations.  It  was  insti¬ 
tuted  by  Maharaja  Marttanda  Varma  as  a  distinction 
to  be  conferred  on  those  who  have  rendered  meritori¬ 
ous  services  to  the  State.  The  ceremony  of 
investiture  will  be  found  described  in  the  History  of 
Travancore • 1  The  title  is  sometimes  conferred 
on  the  family  in  perpetuity.  The  recipients  are  styled 
Thirumukham  Kanakku  Chempakaraman  so  and  so. 

Tampu — This  used  to  be  a  title  conferred  by  the 
sovereign  in  recognition  of  meritorious  services  of  an 
exceptional  nature  and  may  be  compared  with  that  of 
Prince*  and  is  higher  than  that  of  Chempakaraman.  At 
present,  it  is  the  distinctive  suffix  attached  to  the  names 
of  the  Nayar  sons  of  the  sovereigns  of  Travancore.  As 
such,  they  have  certain  privileges,  such  as  riding  in 
palanquins,  appearing  before  the  king  without  a  head¬ 
dress,  etc.  The  Maharaja’s  consorts  are  usually 
selected  from  Tampi  families  and,  if  the  choice  goes 
beyond  these  families,  the  consort  is  adopted  into  one 
of  these  before  or  soon  after  the  alliance.  The  sons 
of  the  Maharaja  have  the  title  ‘Sri’  prefixed  and  ‘Tampi* 
affixed  to  their  personal  names,  <?.  ‘Sri  Narayanan 
Tampi’;  other  male  members  of  the  family  are  called 
simply  Tampies  so  and  so.  The  daughters  are  known 

as  ‘Ponnammas’  and  other  female  members  as  ‘Tam- 
•  »  • 

kachies’.  The  consort  herself  is  Amma  or  Ammachi. 

We  shall  now  enumerate  the  various  titular  suffix¬ 
es  in  general  use  throughout  Malabar.  These  are 
Kartavu,  Kurupp,  Kaimal,  Unnittan,  Valiyaftan, 
Nampiar,  Kitavu,  NayanSr,  Achan,  Mgnon,  Mg- 
nokki,  Mutjan,  Panikkar,  Patanayar,  Manavaiar, 
Perimbrar,  Patiar,  Pralar,  Arimbrar,  Taravanar 
Mannatiar.  These  titles  are  more  or  less  indicative 
of  the  traditional  professions  of  the  individuals  bearing 
them. 

i.  Page  180, 


190  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

Of  these  the  first  nine  indicate  nobility  and  the 
rest  more  or  less  profession. 

Karlhavu . — The  word  means  ‘one  who  does’,  u 
‘he  who  rules’;  cf.  ‘Karta’,  used  in  Bengal  to  mean 
‘manager  of  a  joint  family’..  It  also  appears  to  have 
been  used  by  the  old  Madura  Kings  as  a  title1.  In 
Malabar  it  is  a  title  formerly  conferred  on  Nayar  feudal 
chieftains  by  their  suzerains.  They  are  generally  high 
class  Nayars. 

Kurup . — This  is  a  title  of.  honour.  But  there 
were  also  Kurups  who  were  chieftains,  cf.  ‘Goreyph’ 
or  Kurup  of  Travancore  mentioned  by  our  author  in 
his  9th  letter.  Karanattu  Kurup,  a  dignitary  ot  Tra¬ 
vancore,  is  one  of  the  members  of  the  Sri  Padmanabha 
Swami  Temple  Yogam  at  Trivandrum. 

Kaimal  Perhaps  from  AW^hand  meaning  power; 
cf.  ‘Kai’,  Kan’  and  ‘Kalpana’=*the  hand’, ‘the  eye’ 
and  ‘the  order’  said  to  be  the  distinguishing  prero¬ 
gatives  of  the  Na'yars  according  to  the  Keralolpattu 
They  wTere  the  feudal  chiefs  of  the  Malabar  kings  and 
are  very  often  mentioned  by  the  Portuguese 'writers 
such  as  Barbosa,  Castenheda  and  others.  Both  these 
writers  mention,  as  also  Purchas,  that,  between  the 
death  of  one  Zamorin  and  the  swearing  in  of  his  suc¬ 
cessor,  the  Government  of  the  country  is  conducted  by 
some  Kaimals.  It  was  at  one  time  their  prerogative 
that  one  of  them  should  always  be  in  exclusive  charge 
of  the  treasuries  of  the  Malabar  Rajas,  the  Rajas 
themselves  having  no  power  over  them  except  through 
the  Kaimal  in  charge.  “Neither  could  they,”  says 
Barbosa  “take  anything  out  of  it  (^the  treasury)  without 
a  great  necessity  and  by  the  council  of  this  person.” 
Captain  Alexander  Hamilton  also  speaks  to  the  same 
effect  with  regard  to  the  Rajas  of  Cherakkal.  The 
Kaimals  as  feudatories  had  independent  governments 
of  their  own,  they  being  obliged  only  to  follow  the 
Rajas  into  the  field  of  battle  with  an  allotted  number 
of  fighting  men.  These  also  belong  to  the  highest 
class  of  Nsyars. 

1.  See  Ethnographic  Appendices,  p.  131. 


lntrod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTJES  191 

Unnithan  and  V alliathan  are  also  noblemen  of  a 
lesser  order  but  belonging  to  the  highest  class  of  Nayars . 
These  seem  peculiar  to  Travancore  just  as  KitSvu  and 
NayanSr  and  Nampiar  are  peculiar  to  KolattftSd, 
modern  N.  Malabar.  Some  of  them  were  also  territo1 
rial  magnates,  such  as  the  Iruvslifiad  Nampisrs. 

Achan  — The  word  means  ‘father5.  It  is  the  title 
of  a  few  Nayar  chiefs  such  as  Man  gat  Achan  and  Paliat 
Achan  who  were  hereditary  Prime  Ministers  and  Com- 
manders-in-Chief  of  the  Zamorin  and  the  Cochin  Rajas 
respectively.  The  circumstance  that  they  are  styled 
Menons  by  the  Rajas  in  ordinary  conversation  and 
correspondence  shows  that  they  were  originally  of  the 
commonality  since  ennobled  by  those  Rajas.  The ' 
eldest  member  of  the  Palghat  Raja’s  family  bears  the 
title  of  Achan. 

Panikkar . — Probably  from  Pani  work.  These 
were  fencing  masters  whose  gymnasiums  were  known 
as  Kalaris  ,half  schools  and  half  shrines. 

Menou  and  Metwkki . — These  were  the  writers  of 
the  Rajas  and  their  supervisors — the  latter  term  Menokki 
means  literally  ‘one  who  supervises5,  mal>mel-nokki.  We 
have  an  interesting  description  of  the  Zamorin's  wri¬ 
ters  given  by  Barbosa,  In  Travancore,  the  correspond¬ 
ing  title  is  Piliai.  These  titles  of  Pillai  and  Menon  are 
now  commonly  used  byNSyars  indifferently.  The  other 
terms  do  not  require  any  special  notice  as  they  are 
known  only  locally. 

Sub-divisions- — There  have  been  and  there  are  an 
ever  increasing  number  of  sub-divisions  in  the  Nayar 
community.  The  Nayars  it  has  been  observed  are  more 
a  tribe  than  a  caste.  Bhattach'arya  reckons  them  as  such 
in  his  work  on  Hindu  Castes  and  Sects .  The  Nayar 
community  is  an  elastic  and  expansive  body.  At  the 
same  time,  within  the  community  as  already 
pointed  out,  there  is  a  tendency  to  split  into 
smaller  sections  with  new  caste  pretentions.  It  is 
somewhat  difficult  to  define  who  a  Nayar  is,  but 
it  may  be  said  generally  that  a  Malayaii  who  attaches, 


192 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  2$. 


or  is  entitled  to  attach,  any  one  of  the  titles  already 
enumerated  to  his  own  name,  who  follows  the  Maru 
makkattSyam  law  of  succession,  and  may  enter  the 
temples  of  Kerala  where  Brahmans  and  Nambutiris 
officiate  as  priests,  without  polluting  them,  belongs  to 
one  of  that  class  of  Malayslis  now  known  by  the  name 
of  Nsyar. 

According  to  the  Jstinirnnaya,  the  Nayars  are 
divided  into  18  sections  or  sub-divisions.  These  are 

(1)  Kiriattil  Nay  dr . — Said  to  be  the  descendants 
of  the  first  of  the  a  classes  of  females  brought  to  Mala¬ 
bar  by  Parasu  Rama,  viz.,  Deva,  Gandharva*  and 
Asura  maidens.  Their  peculiar  privilege  is  that  they 
are  exempted  from  serving  the  Brahmans.  To  this 
class  belong  the  chieftains  of  Malabar  known  as 
NampiySr,  KarttSvu,  Kaimai,  Panikkar,  Unni,  Urj^i- 
{tan,  Mstampi,  Tampi,  &c.  Their  profession  was  the 
bearing  of  arms,  direction  of  State  affairs.  They  were 
statesmen,  accountants,  generals,  &c. 

(2)  Illakkar — These  can  act  as  Servants  in 
Brahman  houses.  Every  I llam  or  Brahman  house  has 
its  Pariyappattavar  or  Nsyars  who  are  attached  to  it. 
The  males  of  these  Nsyar  houses  are  servants  of  the., 

Illam  and  the  females  act  as  maids  to  the  Nambutiri 

*  • 

ladies.  They  hold  properties  of  the  Illam  and  receive 
perquisites  for  the  service.  The  Nsyar  women  have 
to  escort  the  Nambutiri  ladies  when  they  go  out  and 
have  to  warn  off  the  low  cannile  on  the  road  from 
approaching  the  holy  presence  of  their  mistress.  They 
have  to  attend  them  at  their  ceremonial  baths  after  the 
monthly  periods  and  while  confined  after  child-birth. 
These  Nayars  consider  these  duties  as  honourable  and 
pride  themselves  in  being  the  Pariyappattavar  of 
wealthy,  influential  and  highly  placed  Nambutiris. 
As  they  are  attached  to  an  1 llam ,  they  are  called 
Illakkar « 

(3)  Swaroopakkar. — Also  called  Lharnavar 
servants  in  Kshetfiya  houses.  Under  this  class  comes 


Intro  d.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


193 


literally  those  attached  to  the  inside  and  those 
attached  to  the  outside,  the  one  performing  menial 
duties  within  the  house  and  are  domestic  body-ser¬ 
vants  while  the  others  are  the  retainers  of  Kshetriyas. 
Another  explanation  for  this  division  is  that  the 
Akajtu  Charrinavar  have  duties  within  the  Ysgasala  or 
sacrificial  shed  of  the  Nambutiris  while  the  duties  of 
the  PufaJtucharAftavar  are  confined  to  the  outside  of 
the  shed.  The  latter  always  take  social  precedence  of 
the  former. 

(4)  Padamangalam . — Servants  in  temples. 

(5)  Tamilpadam . — General  servants.  This  class 
seems  not  to  be  recognised,  or  to  have  no  existence* 
in  Cochin  and  in  Malabar. 

(6)  Etachery  Nayar . — These  are  shepherds  and 
dairymen.  It  seems  that,  of  the  several  castes  of 
Nsyars,  Etachery  is  the  only  one  from  which  a  man 
belonging  to  the  Chsrfia  caste  may  take  a  wife,  unless 
it  be  from  his  own  caste,  without  social  degradation 
to  both  parties. 

(7)  Maran . — Drummers  and  musicians  in 
temples.  A  class  of  Ma:r2n  known  as  Astikurichi  are 
attendants  at  ceremonies  of  Brahmans,  Kshetriyas,  and 
high  caste  Nsyars.  Members  of  the  former  class  abstain 
from  fish  and  meat,  and  therefore  claim  superiority  over 
those  of  the  latter  class. 

(8)  Chempukotti — Copper  utensil  makers. 

(9)  Odathu  Nay ars — Tile-makers  of  temples. 

(10)  Pallichan — Palanquin  bearers  for  Rajas 
and  Brahmans. 

(11)  Matavan  or  Puliaih  Afay#?'*— These  are  said 
to  be  servants  to  Brahmins  and  others  down  to  Am- 
palavSsis.  But  there  is  a  class  known  as  Pulikel 
Nayars  or  Matavars*  to  be  found  in  the  hilly  parts, 
such  as  those  of  the  Kurumbfafiad  Taluk  of  Malabar 
and  the  KottSrakkarai  and  Msvglikkara  Taluks  of 
Travancore,  who  are  clever  archers- 

Y 


194  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  tL-  20» 

(i  2)  Kalamkotti .  Potters. — These  are  also  known 
as  Rusavaus and  AntUr  Nayars.  1 

(13)  V citttakadcin  or  Chakkala  or  Chakingal Near • 
Oilmongers  for  temples. 

(14)  Astikkurichi  or  Cheetikan ,2  is  subordinate  to 
Maran  and  performs  funeral  rites  for  Nayars. 

(15)  Chettisor  Vyaparis  are  merchants  selling 
curry-stuffs  and  other  goods.  Barbosa  mentions  the 
Barbares  or  Vyaparis  as  a  caste  separate  from  Chet¬ 
ties.  Regarding  Barbares ,  Barbosa  says: — “In  Cali¬ 
cut  and  in  all  Malabar  these  are  merchants.  They 
deal  in  all  sorts  of  goods,  collect  pepper  and  ginger 
from  the  Nayars  and  cultivators  in  the  interior  and 
frequently  buy  them  in  advance  in  exchange  for  cotton 
stuffs  and  other  goods  that  come  from  beyond  the 
sea.  They  enjoy  much  freedom;  crime  among  them 
being  punished  by  their  chief  men  and  not  by  the 
king.  If  the  offender  deserves  death  they  kill  him 
with  dagger  or  lance  thrusts.”3  Of  the  Chetties 
he  says, — ‘‘They  are  considerable  merchants.  They 
deal  in  precious  stones  of  all  sorts,  and  in  pearls, 
coral  and  other  very  valuable  merchandise;  and  in 
gold,  silver,  either  bullion  or  corn  which  is  a  great 
article  of  trade  amongst  them,  because  they  rise  and 
fall  many  times”.4  Evidently  Barbosa  is  not 
referring  to  the  Nayar  Chetties  or  Vyaparies.  Probably 
foreign  Hindu  merchants  trading  in  Malabar  at  the 
time  were  called  by  local  names. 

(16)  Chaliyan .  Weaver . — Regarding  tne  weavers 

Barbosa  says; — ‘These  are  called  Chalians.  They 
have  no  other  business  except  to  weave  cloths  of 
cotton,  and  some  silk,  which  are  of  little  value,  and 
are  used  by  the  common  people.  *  *  Many 

of  these  are  the  sons  of  Nayars,  and  so  they  are  very 
fine  men  in  their  figures;  and  they  bear  arms  like  the 
Nayars  and  go  to  the  wars  and  fight  very  well.”5 

(1)  See  note  19  of  Letter  XX. 

(2)  Also  Asthikurichi  and  Cheethiyan. 

(3)  P*  134  (4)  P.  144  (5)  P.  136. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  195 

(17) .  Veluthetan .  Washerman. —  Barbosa  says: 

— “These  are  called  MannattanmSr  and  their  business 

»  »  •  • 

is  only  to  wash  the  cloths  of  the  Brahmans,  Kings  and 
Nayars  and  they  live  by  this  business  and  they  cannot 
adopt  other  employments,  nor  can  their  descendants.”1 

(18) .  Velakkethelavan  or  Kshavurakkaran. — They 
are  barbers  who  work  for  the  higher  classes  of  Brah¬ 
mans  and  Nayars.  The  last  four  classes,  though  classed 
as  Nayars,  are  yet  not  allowed  to  touch  them,  and  are 
considered  to  belong  to  the  polluting  class.  It  is, 
however,  curious  that  the  cloths  washed  and  handled 
by  the  Veluttetan  are  not  prohibited  as  polluting, 
though  his  touch  would  be.  These  cloths  are  received 
in  pagodas  for  the  use  of  the  idols  and  are  worn  by  even 
the  highest  Nambutiri  Brahmans. 

The  first  14  sub-divisions  form  the  class  of  high 
caste  Nayars,  who  have  in  course  of  time  split  them¬ 
selves  into  a  large  number  of  sub-sections,  and  the 
process  of  division,  as  already  observed,  is  still  going 
on.  From  the  schedules  of  the  Travancore  Census  Report^ 
we  see  that  in  that  State  there  are  over  a  hundred  and 
thirty  such  sub-sections.  The  Census  Report  for  Malabar 
( 1881 )  also  shows  138  sub-divisions  of  the  Nayar  caste. 
Who  knows  that  this  tendency  to  divide  and  sub-divide' 
is  not  “a  device  to  secure  a  certain  degree  of  division 
of  labour,  technical  training  and  development  of  apti¬ 
tude  for  particular  crafts.”2 

Appearance  and  Physical  features — Asa  class,  they 
are  a  fine  race.  “They  are  strong  of  limbs”,  says 
Linschoten,  “of  colour  altogether  blacke,  yet  verie 
smooth,  both  of  haire  and  skinne  which  commonly  they 
annoynt  with  oyle,  to  make  it  shine.  Of  face,  bodie 
and  limbs  they  are  altogether  like  men  of  Europe, 
without  any  difference,  but  only  in  colour,  the  men  are 
commonly  verie  hairie,  and  rough  on  the  breast  and 
on  their  bodies”.  Ralph  Fitch  observes,  “the  men 
be  tall  and  strong  ....  of  a  reasonable  stature,  the 

1.  P.  135. 

2.  See  On  Malabar  Untouchability  on  p.  4290!  the  History 
of  Kerala  Vol.  II;  also  the  Editor’s  Paper  on  the  System 
of  caste  in  his  Speeches  and  writings,  2nd  Ed.  p.  59. 


196 


LETTERS  FROM- MALABAR 


[L.  20# 


women  little,  and  all  blacke”.  Captain  Nieuhoff  says 
that  “they  are  generally  well  proportioned,  though  of 
a  brown  or  olive  colour.  Pyrard  who  saw  them  in 
their  prime  observes,  “They  are  the  handsomest,  most 
shapely,  best  proportioned  men  I  ever  saw.  They  are 
of  a  dusky  olive  colour,  and  all  tall  and  lusty”.  Early  in 
the  19th  century,  Colonel  Welsh  has  described  the 
Nayars  as  “a  race  of  beings  equally  superior  to  the  rest  of 
the  population  in  stature,  features,  strength  and  beauty 
of  limbs”.  “With  their  olive-brown  complexion,  dainty 
extremities,  graceful  figure,  noble  bearing,  and  distin¬ 
guished  carriage”,  says  Mr.  Elic  Reclus,  ‘‘they  are  a 
gracious  race  which,  according  to  Richard  Burton, 
singularly  resembles  the  portraits  given  at  the  close  of 
the  last  century  as  representative  of  the  Pacific 
Islands”.  “A  well  nourished  Nair  is  perhaps  one  of 
the  finest  in  all  India”,  says  Dr.  Subramania  Iyer. 
“The  women  are  distinctly  fair  as  well  as  well  favoured. 
Many  are  very  handsome.  The  colour  of  the  men  is 
fair  or  very  nearly  so,  but  darker  than  the  Nambootiri. 
As  a  rule,  they  have  a  plentiful  growth  of  hair  on  the 
head,  both  men  and  women,  which  they  take  great 
pains  to  preserve  long  and  glossy.  The  climate  of 
the  country,  the  nature  of  their  occupations,  and  the 
surroundings  of  their  habitations  contribute  in  no 
small  degree  to  secure  to  them  a  healthy  appearance 
and  strong  physique.  But  i *  is  to  be  deplored  that  the 
race  is  fast  deteriorating  in  physique.  The  Nairs  no 
longer  lead  the  active  and  hardy  life  of  their  ancestors. 
The  enervating  influences  of  an  alien  civilisation  have 
sapped  their  powers  of  physical  endurance.  They  are 
fast  losing  their  virility,  and  the  race  has  at  present 
gone  so  far  down  that  it  has  been  remarked  that,  in 
regard  to  strength  and  endurance,  the  average  Nair 
of  to-day  stands  inferior  to  his  analogue  on  the  opposite 
coast”. 

* Dress  and  Ornaments • — The  Nsyars  have 

always  been  a  scantily  clothed  race.  Perhaps 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  197 

the  earliest  notice  we  have  of  the  dress  of  the 
Malayslees  is  that  of  Marco  Polo  in  the  13th  century. 
He  observes,  “Now  in  all  this  province  of  Malabar 
there  is  not  a  tailor,  for  the  people  go  naked  at  every 
season.  The  air  is  always  so  temperate  that  they  wear 
only  a  piece  of  cloth  round  the  middle.  The  King  is 
dressed  just  like  the  others,  except  that  his  cloth  is 
finer,  and  he  wears  a  necklace  full  set  with  diamonds, 
etc.  He  wears  also  round  three  parts  of  his  body  both 
of  his  arms  and  legs  bracelets  of  gold,  full  of  goodly 
stones  and  pearls.5'  1  This  description  of  the  dress  of 
the  average,  uneducated  Malayalee  is  as  true  to-day  as 
when  it  was  written  seven  centuries  ago,  except  that  the 
Kings  of  Malabar  have  dispensed  with  the  bracelets 
that  used  to  encircle  their  arms  and  legs. 

Not  long  after  Marco  Polo,  Ibn  Batuta  describes 
the  King  of  Calicut,  “the  great  Zamorine55  coming 
down  to  the  beach  to  see  the  wreck  of  certain  junks, 
“his  clothing  consisted  of  a  great  piece  of  white  stuff 
rolled  about  him  from  the  navel  to  the  knees,  and  a 
little  scrap  of  turban  on  his  head,  his  feet  were  bare 
and  a  young  slave  carried  an  umbrella  over  him’X  Friar 
Jordanus5  description  does  not  differ  much  from  the 
above. 

The  Chinese  traveller  Ma  Huan  (1409)  thus  says 
of  Cochin: — “The  King  wears  no  clothing  on  the  upper 
part  of  his  person;  he  has  simply  a  square  of  silk 
wound  round  his  loins,  kept  in  place  by  a  coloured 
waist-band  of  the  same*  material  and  on  his  head  a 
turban  of  yellow  or  white  cotton  cloth.  The  dress  of 
the  officers  and  the  rich  differs  but  little  from  that  of 
the  King.” 

Abdur  Razak,  (1442),  speaking  of  the  people  of 
Calicut,  observes  that  they  “have  the’body  nearly  naked; 
they  bear  only  bandages  round  the  middle  called  Lan « 
koutah ,  which  descend  from  the  navel  to  above  the 

1.  Vol,  I,  p.  320 

2.  IV,  p.  97 


198  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

knee  *  *  *  *  This  costume  is  common  to  the  King  and 
to  the  beggar”.  1 

In  the  year  1498,  the  Zamorin  is  described,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  granting*  audience  to  Vasco  Da  Gama, 
as  wearing  “a  short  coat  of  fine  calico  strewed  with 
branches  and  roses  of  beaten  gold.  The  buttons  were 
great  pearls  and  the  holes  of  gold  thread.  About  his 
middle  was  a  piece  of  white  calico  which  reached  to  his 
knees”.  2. 

Barbosa  also  observes  that  the  Kings  of  Malabar 
“sometimes  clothe  themselves  with  short  jackets  open 
in  front,  reaching  half  way  down  the  thigh,  made  of 
very  fine  cotton  cloth,  fine  scarlet  cloth,  or  of  silk  and 
brocade.” 

Della  Vella  says,  “The  King  and  all  others,  as  I 
have  said,  commonly  go  naked ;  only  they  have  a  cloth 
where-with  they  are  girded,  reaching  to  the  mid  leg: 
yet,  when  upon  any  occasion  the  King  is  minded  to 
appear  much  in  majesty,  he  puts  on  only  a  white  vest¬ 
ment  of  very  fine  cotton,  never  using  either  cloth  of 
gold  or  silk ;  others  also  when  they  please  may  wear 
the  like  garment,  but  not  in  the  King’s  presence,  in 
which  it  is  not  lawful  for  any  to  appear  otherwise  than 
naked,  saving  the  cloth  above  mentioned”. 

Varthema  writing  of  Calicut  says,  “the  dress  of 
the  King  and  Queen  and  of  all  the  others,  u  e.y  to- say, 
of  the  natives  of  the  country  is  this: —  they  go  naked 
and  with  bare  feet,  and  wear  a  piece  of  cotton  or  of  silk 
around  the  middle  and  with  nothing  on  their  heads. 
All  pagans  go  without  a  shirt.  In  like  manner,  the 
women  go  naked  like  the  men”. 

Ralph  Fitch  quaintly  says,  “the  King  goeth  in- 
cached  as  they  do  all”.  He  adds  that  both  men  and 
women  had  only  “a  cloth  bound  about  their  middle 
hanging  downe  to  their  hammes ;  all  the  rest  of  their 
bodies  be  naked”. 

1.  Major  p.  17 

2.  Astby  p.  32 


Introd.) 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


199 


Linschoten  and  Caesar  Fredrick  both  give  the 
same  description  as  Varthema  and  Fitch.  Linschoten 
observes  “they  go  all  naked,  only  their  middle  covered, 
the  women  likewise  have  but  a  cloth  from  their  navel 
downe  to  their  knees,  all  the  rest  is  naked”.  And 
Caesar  Fredrick  says,  “these  men  go  naked  from  the 
girdle  upwards  with  a  cloth  rolled  about  their  thighs, 
going  bare-footed”. 

In  the  16th  century,  Sheikh  Zeen-ud  deen  observes 
that  the  “Nairs  have  their  bodies,  for  the  most  part 
exposed,  wearing  only  a  covering  around  their  middles. 
In  this  custom,  both  men  and  women,  and  Kings  and 
nobles,  without  exception  agree’ V 

In  the  17th  Century,  Tavernier  says,  “the  people 
go  quite  naked,  only  wearing  a  cloth  which  covers  his 
private  parts.  The  King  himself  is  in  that  respect 
like  the  least  of  his  subjects,  save  that  he  wears  a  little 
gold  in  his  ears”.2 

Della  Vella  speaking  of  the  people  of  Calicut  ob* 
serves,  “As  for  clothing,  they  .need  little,  both  men 
and  women  going  quite  naked,  saving  that  they  have  a 
piece  either  of  cotton  or  silk  hanging  down  from  the 
girdle  to  the  kne^s,  and  covering  their  fchame;  the 
better  sort  are  wont  to  wear  two  either  all  blue  or 
white  stripped  with  azure,  or  azure  and  some  other 
colour,  a  dark  blue  being  most  esteemed  amongst 
them”.  But,  according  to  Neiuhoff,  the  men  wore  “a 
large  piece  of  calico  wrapt  round  their  middle,  which 
reached  down  to  their  knees,  and  was  drawn  through 
betwixt  their  thighs,  and  tied  together  behind  above 
their  buttocks”.  At  the  interview  which  Della  Vella 
had  with  the  Zamorin,  there  were  present  two  little 
princesses  of  the  Royal  house  aged  about  12  years  each; 
and  of  them  he  says,  ‘‘they  were  all  naked  (as  I  said 
above,  the  women  generally  go)  saving  that  they  had  a 
very  small  blue  cloth  wrapped  about  their  i'.nmo- 

1.  Tohfut  p.  65  « 

2.  Vol.  f,  p.  247 


200  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

destieS”.  While  this. surprised  the  foreigner,  the  prin¬ 
cesses  themselves  were  in  their  turn  not  a  little 
surprised  to  see  the  visitors  bundled  up  as  it  were  in 
a  mass  of  clothing.  For,  Della  Vella  observes  that 
“one  of  them  being  more  forward  could  not  contain,  but 
approaching  gently  towards  me,  almost  touched  the 
sleeve  of  my  coat  with  her  hand,  made  a  sign  of  wonder 
to  her  sister,  how  we  could  go  so  wrapped  up  and 
intangled  in  clothes,  as  we  seemed  to  her  to  be ;  such 
is  the  power  of  custom  that  their  going  naked  seemed 
no  more  strange  to  us,  than  our  being  clothed  appear¬ 
ed  extravagant  to  them.”  The  King  himself  “  was 
naked  having  only  a  piece  of  fine,  changeable  cotton 
cloth,  blue  and  white,  hanging  from  the  girdle  to  the 
middle  of  the  leg.” 

We  have  a  fine  description  of  the  get-up  of  a  NSyar 
warrior  of  the  higher  class  going  forth  to  have  single 
combat  with  his  opponent  in  one  of  the  well  known 
Ballads  of  the  North,  Vatakkan  Psttus  (cus^oti  aj'o|ca>Oo^, 
Speaking  of  Tachchoii  Otenan  preparing  himself  for 
battle  it  says, 

“And  went  to  dress — a  full  dress. 

He  wore  god-of-serpent’s  head  earring 

in  ears, 

Combed  down  his  hair, 

And  wore  a  flower  of  gold  over  the  crown. 

A  silk  cloth  round  the  loins* 

A  gold  girdle  over  it, 

Gold  ring  on  four  fingers, 

A  bracelet  worked  in  with  scenes 
PTom  Ramayanam  and  Bharatam 
High  up  in  his  right  arm, 

A  gold-handled  sword  in  his  right  hand, 

And  a  tiger-fighting  shield  in  his  left  hand”. 

The  dress  of  the  men  cannot  be  said  to  have  im¬ 
proved  much.  For  they  still  satisfy  themselves  with 
wrapping  round  their  middle  a  piece  of  cloth  between 
4  and  5  cubits  in  length  and  3  cubits  in  breadth.  It 


In  trod  J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  SOI 

hangs  down  to  the  ankles.  They  also  throw'  on  theL* 
shoulders  a  shorter  piece  which  serves  as  a  towel.  Both 
men  and  women  use  cnly  white  cloths,  and  are  scru¬ 
pulous  about  these  being  clean  and  well  washed.  This 
is  their  ordinary  dress.  Their  official  or  ceremonial 
dre^s,  when  attending  Durbars,  etc.,  is  altogether 
different.  Broad  cloth  dress  suits  and  boots  with 
a  turban  on  their  heads  have  become  the  ruling  fashion. 
Formerly  their  official  dress  consisted  of  white  flowing 
petticoats,  a  turban  on  their  heads,  the  nether  limb? 
being  sometimes  enclosed  in  white  trousers  or  covered 
with  two  fine  pieces  of  cloth  one  worn  over  the  other, 
the  feet  being  left  bare. 

The  dress  of  the  women  did  not  as  we  have  seen 
differ  from  that  of  the  men.  They  simply  wound 
round  their  middle  a  longer  piece  of  cloth  hanging 
down  but  seldom  going  below  the  knees.  They  felt 
it  no  shame  to  expose  their  charms  by  leaving  the 
upper  portion  of  their  body  above  their  waist  un¬ 
covered.  It  is  the  custom  of  the  country  and  no  one 
feels  it  to  be  wrong.  “It  is  not  only  the  vulgar/’ 
remarks  Forbes,  “who  are  thus  sparingly  clothed;  for 
the  first  princesses  wear  only  a  finer  muslin,  with 
costly  jewels.”  Captain  Alexander  Hamilton,  in  giving 
an  account  of  a  visit  he  paid  to  the  KurumbafftSd  Raja 
whom  he  calls  ‘Onnitree’,  speaks  of  the  “Queen  and 
daughters  of  the  Raja  as  all  naked  above  the  navel,  and 
they  were  bare  footed”.  Reference  may  also  be  made 
to  Nieuhoff’s  description  of  the  attire  in  which  the 
Queen  of  Quilon  gave  him  audience. 

Speaking  of  the  dress  of  the  women  of  Malabar, 
Grose  says,  “the  women  of  those  countries  are  not 
allowed  to  cover  any  part  of  their  breasts,  to  the  naked 
display  of  which  they  annex  no  idea  of  immodesty, 
which  in  fact  ceases  by  the  familiarity  of  it  to  the  eye. 
Most  Europeans  at  their  first  arrival  experience  the 
force  of  temptation  from  such  a  nudity  on  the  basis  of 
the  ideas  to  which  their  education  and  customs  have 

habituated  them:  but  it  is  not  long  before  those 

Z 


202 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20* 


impressions  by  their  frequency  entirely  wear  off, 
and  they  view  it  with  as  little  emotion  as  the  natives 
themselves,-  or  as  any  of  the  most  obvious  parts  of  the 
body,  the  face,  or  hands”. 

“In  some  parts  of  Malabar,  this  custom  is  how¬ 
ever  more  rigorously  observed  than  in  others.  A 
Queen  of  Attinga,  on  a  woman  of  her  country  coming 
to  her  presence,  who  having  been  sometime  in  an 
European  settlement,  where  she  had  conformed  tD  the 
fashion  there,  had  continued  the  concealment  of  her 
breasts,  ordered  them  to  be  cut  off,  for  daring  to 
appear  before  her  with  such  a  mark  of  disrespect  to  the 
established  manners  of  the  country.”  1 
i.  Vcl.  I,  p.  244.. 

Otto  Rothfeld,  F.  R.  G.  S.t  I.  C.  S.,  has  the  following  re¬ 
marks  about  Nair  women  in  his  Women  of  India: — 

“Nowidrys  it  is  the  women  who  have  won  the  higher  fame. 
Seldom  in  any  country  can  there  have  been  a  womanhood  that 
has  received  such  universal  eulogy.  From  the  earliest  h  stories  of 
Malabar  to  the  latest  writings  of  French  tourists,  the  chorus  of 

praise  has  been  a  monody . This  careful  cleanliness  and  a 

certain  grave  soit  of  neatness  are  indeed  recurrent  in  every  des* 
cription.  The  bath  is  to  them  a  very  article  of  faith  and  they 

bathe  not  daily ,  but,  aimost  it  might  be  said,  hourly . 

A  scrupulous  cleanliness  and  a  fastidious  neatness — a  total  im-. 
pression  of  aimost  hieratic  purity — this  exhales  from  the  Nair 
woman  like  an  emanation/’  (i’p.  82—3  ). 

“The  dress  is  simple  in  the  extreme,  a  simple  white  cloth 
that  reaches  from  the  waist  to  the  knee.  This  for  long  ages  has 
been  the  sole  honoured  dress  of  the  Nair  lady,  ab.we  ail  fear  rs 

she  is  and  above  reproach .  Sometimes,  however,  especially 

in  these  later  dajs,  and  when  she  travels  to  other  piovinces,  she 
throws  a  cloth  over  her  shoulders  and  bosom,  with  a  certain  shy. 
ness,  as  of  something  coquettish  and  immodest.’’  (P  84  ). 

Mr.  F  Fawcett’s  words  on  the  subject  of  drefs  in  his  Nayars 
of  Malabar  (pp.  197 — 8)  bear  repetition  here:— 

“The  dress  of  men  is  very  simple  ;  ordinarily  one  cloth  round 
the  loins,  the  ends  overlapping  a  foot  or  two  in  front.  It  is  not 
tucked  between  the  legs,  which  is  the  fashion  practically  all  over 
India  (of  women  too  in  many  parts  of  Malabar),  but  hangs  straight 
to  the  ground.  It  should  touch  the  ground,  or  very  nearly  do  so. 
Wearing  a  cloth  in  such  fashion  carries  with  it  dignity  to  the 
wearer,” 


Introd.J 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


203 


Custom  required  Nayar  women  in  Travancore  to 
remove  the  cloth  covering  the  upper  part  of  their  body 
in  the  presence  of  the  Royal  Family.  But  this  was 
abolished  by  a  Royal  Proclamation  in  1856.  How¬ 
ever,  it  is  still  thought  to  be  a  mark  of  respect  not 
only  for  women  but  also  for  men  to  throw  off  the  upper 
garment  in  the  presence  of  their  elders  or  superiors. 
The  Malabar  women  have,  no  doubt,  made  some  advance 
in  the  matter  of  dress.  At  present,  a  Nsyar  woman  ties 
round  the  loins  tightly  a  long  piece  of  cloth  with  one 
end  passing  between  the  legs  and  tucked  fast  to  the 
waist  behind.  This  reaches  below  the  knee.  Another 
and  finer  piece  of  cloth  is  worn  over  this,  and  it  goes 
down  a' most  to  below  the  ankles.  Over  the  upper 
part  of  the  body  a  bodice  or  a  sort  of  halt-jacket,  called 
Rowkkaiy  is  worn,  and  when  going  abroad  another  piece 
of  fine  cloth  is  thrown  over  the  shoulders  covering  the 
bust.  This  is  the  dress  of  the  younger  ones.  The 
older  women  still  stick  to  the  former  practice  of 
simply  throwing  a  piece  of  cloth  over  their  shoulders 
when  going  abroad.  In  North  Malabar  and  in  South 
Travancore  the  long  piece  of  cloth  first,  mentioned  is 
simply  wound  round  the  loins  without  the  end'  being 
passed  between  the  legs. 

“InMalaber,  where  there  is  prevalent  the  idea  that  no  res¬ 
pectable  woman  covers  her  breast,  there  has  crept  in  lately,  chiefly 
among  those  who  have  travelled  a  feeling  of  shame  irv  respect  of 
this  custom  of  dress.  Dress  is,  of  course,  a  conventional  affar, 
and  h  will  be  matter  for  r-gret  shoul  1  faise  ideas  of  shame  sup. 
plant  those  of  nitural  dignity  such  as  one  s?es  expressed  in  the 

carriage  and  bearing  of  the  well-bred  Nair  lady.” 

( 

No  doubt  these  words  will  be  welcome  to  men  and  women  of 
an  old,  dying  generation.  But  the  modern  girl,  wnether  in  or  out 
of  the  school,  will  resent  such  sentiments  as  these,  and  will  even 
be  rcustd  to  anger  if  she  weie  told  that  her  ancestors  went  about 
with  tie  upper  parts  of  their  bodies  always  uncovered.  $hj  his 
airea.y  b«gun  to  bob  her  black  curly  hair,  to  take  to  high-healed 
shoes  and  to  aprons.  No  cue  wants  her  to  go  naktd  as  cf  old, 
but  it  will  be  an  evil  day  if  she  abandon  the  simple  grace  of  her 
clean  pearly  white  dress  and  ape  alien  fashions. 


104  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

That  old  ideas  regarding  the  dress  of  women  are 
changing,  giving  place  to  new,  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  recently1  some  young  Nsyar  women  of  Trivan¬ 
drum  protested  to  the  authorities  that  their  sense  of 
decency  prevented  them  from  attending  to  their  duties 
in  the  great  temple  at  Trivandrum  with  their  bosoms 
uncovered  as  custom  required.  When  the  image  of 
Sri  Padmansbha  Swsmi  is  taken  in  procession  round 
the  temple  every  day,  as  also  when  it  goes  out  to  the 
sea  beach  at  Trivandrum  for  TitZt  (bath)  on  the  last 
day  of  the  U^savam,  a  bevy  of  Nsyar  girls  have  to  carry 
lighted  brass  lamps  in  front  and  in  rear  of  the  God. 
The  custom  was  that,  however  bejewelled  they  might 
present  themselves  on  the  occasion,  they  should  on  no 
account  have  their  bosoms  covered.  Of  late  the  young¬ 
er  members  of  the  sex  seem  to  have  revolted  against 
this  injunction  and  refused  to  appear  in  public  with 
bare  breasts,  feeling  it  a  shame  to  do  so.  Then- 
attendance  at  processions  gradually  fell  off,  till  at  last 
there  were  only  a  few  elderly  women  who  could  be  per¬ 
suaded  with  difficulty  to  be  present  at  these  proces¬ 
sions.  Latterly  even  these  refused  to  attend.  Represen¬ 
tation  had  to  be  made  to  His  Highness  the  Maharaja,2 
who,  with  the  good-  sense  that  always  characterised 
his  acts,  ordered  that  these  women  might  thereafter 
attend  the  procession  wearing  such  garments  as  they 
pleased. 

As  we  have  already  observed,  the  practice  of  wear¬ 
ing  the  Rowkkai  or  bodice  having  become  general  in 
Malabar,  Nsyar  ladies  had  never  thought  it  out  of  place 
in  going  with  it  to  worship  in  temples  till  an  unpleasant 
incident  occurred  in  the  temple  at  Tfppunitturai,  the 
seat  cf  the  Ruling  Family  of  Cochin.  A  young  decently 
dressed  Ksyar  woman  cf  respectability  chanced  to  be  in 
the  temple  when  a  Princess  of  the  Raja’s  family  passed 
by.  She  was  called  on  by  the  overzealous  royal  attend¬ 
ants  to  remove  her  upper  garment  to  show  respect  to 

1.  The  author  wrote  this  about  25  years  asro  Ed% 

2,  Ho  H.  the  late  £n  Mu!ara  Thirunal  Maharaja. 


TWO  NAYAR  LADIES. 


i 


Iatrod.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


205 


royalty.  Naturally  the  woman  refused,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  cloth  that  covered  the  upper  part  of  her  body 
was  attempted  to  be  snatched  away  by  some  one. 
Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  she  complained  of  the  out¬ 
rage  to  her  guardians,  and  her  karanavan  presented  a 
written  complaint  to  His  Highness  the  Maharaja.1 
No  reply  was  forthcoming  and  the  complainant  presented 
himself  in  person  and  prayed  for  redress.  He  could 
get  none.  The  incident  gave  currency  to  a  rumour  that 
H.H.the  Raja  had  ordered  that  no  Nsyar  woman  wearing 
the  Rowkkai  or  bodice  should  be  admitted  within  the 
inner  precincts  of  temples  under  Sirkar  management, 
with  the  result  that  those  frequenting  these  temples  for 
worship  began  to  drop  their  Rowkkai  when  so  employ¬ 
ed.  Rather  than  give  up  worshipping  in  temples,  they 
had  to  reconcile  themselves  to  the  idea  of  going  back 
to  their  old  form  of  dress  in  attending  them,  still  hold¬ 
ing  on  to  the  new  method  on  other  occasions.  It  was 
indeed  hard  to  believe  that  so  enlightened  and  advanced 
a  prince  as  H.  H.  the  Maharaja  of  Cochin,  who  has 
always  shown  a  commendable  anxiety  to  brush  aside 
nasty,  old,  meaningless  forms,  would  countenance, 
much  less  order,  such  an  undesirable  backward  step, 
and  the  Superintendent  of  Devaswams,  i,  e .  the  official 
head  of  the  temple  department,  was  approached  with  a 
view  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  rumour.  To  an 
enquiry  made  as  to  whether  any  orders  had  been  re¬ 
ceived  or  issued  preventing  the  temple  authorities  from 
admitting  into  the  inner  precincts  of  Sirkar  temples 
NSyar  women  wearing  the  Rowkkai,  the  then  Superin¬ 
tendent,  a  very  intelligent  Brahman  gentleman  and  a 
graduate  cf  the  Madras  University,  made  the  following 
reply: — “I  may  tell  you  that  no  written  order  has  been 
received  by  me  prohibiting  Nsyar  ladies  from  entering 
the  inner  precincts  of  a  temple  with  their  Rowkkas  on, 
and  that  the  Wadakkunnatham  (Trichur)  Devaswam 
officers  have  not  been  doing  anything  without  direction. 
But  I  understand  that,  after  the  Tj-ppu$i{{urai 

z.  H.  II.  the  ex-Maharaja. 


806  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  ao. 

incident,  no  Nsyar  lady  has  been  found  entering  the 
inner  precincts  with  her  Rowkka /,  and  that  this  prac¬ 
tice  appears  to  have  been  followed  without  any  extra • 
neous  influence-*  From  what  transpired  at  'J'j*ppU$i{turai, 
I  for  one  am  led  to  think  that  ic  would  be  well  that 
Rowkkas  are  discarded  when  a  Nsyar  lady  enters  the 
inner  precincts  of  the  temple,  and  if  you  do  not  mind 
to  set  up  an  example  which  is  opposed  to  the  current 
spontaneous  practice”.  Still  more  recently  a  demi- 
official  intimation,  seems  to  have  gone  forth  to  managers 
of  Sirkar  temples  to  exclude  Nsyar  women  wearing 
‘Jackets’  from  the  inner  precincts  of  temples.  This 
occasioned  some  trouble  in  which  the  Diwan  seems  to 
have  interferred  and,  though  the  prohibition  has  not  been 
formally  recalled  or  cancelled,  it  is  more  honoured  in 
its  breach  than  in  its  observance. 

The  ingenious,  but  scarcely  ingenuous,  terms  in 
which  the  above  letter  is  couched  leaves  in  one’s  mind 
no  doubt  that  a  more  or  less  veiled  attempt  is  being 
made  by  the  authorities  to  bring  into  practice  once 
more  the  old  order  of  things.  One  can  only  desire 
that,  in  a  matter  like  this,  where  a  highly  desirable 
reform,  conducive  to  the  advancement  of  morality  and 
decency,  has  had  its  origin  spontaneously  from  within 
the  society  affected  by  it  itself,  no  external  official  in¬ 
fluence  should  be  exerted  to  retard  the  advancing  tide 
of  progress. 

The  incident  above  mentioned  rem’nds  one  of 
what  was  known  as  the  “Upper  cloth”  question  in  Tra* 
vancore  about  the  year  1859  when  the  women  of  the 
Shannar  converts  to  Christianity  in  South  Travancore 
claimed  to  wear  a  costume  similar  to  that  of  the  Brah¬ 
man  women.  The  higher  classes  opposing  this,  distur¬ 
bances  arose  to  the  detriment  of  public  tranquillity. 
The  Missionaries  set  up  a  strong  agitation  on  behalf 
of  the  fair  sex  and  approached  the  Madras  Government 
with  a  memorial.  Sir  Charles  Trevelyan,  who  had  then* 
recently  arrived  as  Governor,  chivalarously  espoused  the 
*  The  italics  are  not  in  the  original  letter* 


Introd.l 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


207 


cause  of  the  oppressed  women  and  wrote  thus  to  the 
Resident,  General  Cullen: — 

“I  have  seldom  met  with  a  case  in  which  not  only 
truth  and  justice,  but  every  feeling  of  common  huma¬ 
nity  are  so  entirely  on  one  side.  The  whole  civilised 
world  would  cry  shame  upon  us  if  we  did  not  make  a 
firm  stand  on  such  an  occasion.  If  anything  could 
make  this  line  of  conduct  more  incumbent  on  us,  it 
would  be  the  extraordinary  fact  that  persecution  of  a 
singularly  personal  and  delicate  kind  is  attempted  to 
be’ justified  by  a  royal  proclamation,  the  special  object 
of  which  was  to  assure  to  Her  Majesty’s  Indian  sub¬ 
jects,  liberty  of  thought  and  action  so  long  as  they  did 
not  interfere  with  the  just  rights  of  others.  I  should 
fail  in  respect  to  Her  Majesty,  if  I  attempted  to'  des¬ 
cribe  the  feelings  with  which  she  must  regard  the  use 
made  against  her  own  sex  of  the  promise  of  protection 
so  graciously  accorded  by  her. 

“It  will  be  your  duty  to  impress  these  views  on 
His  Highness  the  Raja,  and  to  point  out  to  him  that 
such  prohibition  as  those  conveyed  in  the  Circular 
Order  of  May  1814,  and  in  the  proclamation  of  the  3rd 
February  1829,  are  -unsuited  to  the  present  age,  and 
unworthy  of  an  enlightened  Prince.” 

Not  content  with  having  despatched  this  strongly 
worded  letter,  His  Excellency  sent  a  more  strongly 
worded  verbal  message  through  the  Assistant  Re¬ 
sident,  Captain  Hcber  Drury,  who  happened  to  be  at 
Madras  at  about  this  tin  e.  “During  an  interview  with 
H.  E.  the  Governor  *,  says  Captain  Drury,  “he  alluded 
among  other  things  to  the  upper  cloth  question,  and 
•aid,  ‘you  have  just  come  from  Travancore  I  believe.? 
I  replied  in  the  affirmative.  ‘You  are  of  course  aware* 
he  continued,  ‘that  communications  have  latterly  been 
going  on  between  the  two  Governments  about  female 
converts  being  required  to  wear  the  upper  cloth.*  I 
said  I  knew  that  discussions  had  taken  place  upon  the 
question  and  that  great  opposition  was  shown  by -the 
higher  castes.  ‘Well*  he  said  ‘when  you  return  to 


208  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [**♦  *o. 

Travancore,  you  may  tell  the  authorities  that  the  affair 
shall  be  carried  out  on  behalf  of  the  women  even  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet.  Strong  words  these  I  thought. 
But  as  the  bearer  of  so  important  an  injunction,  I 
never  hesitated  in  my  duty  of  delivering  it.  Happily 
no  bayonet  was  eventually  required.” 

The  dress  of  the  Malaysli  women  has  been  very 
oftep  the  subject  of  much  adverse  criticism  at  the 
hands  of  unsympathetic  foreigners.  It  has  been  de¬ 
nounced  as  immodest  and  unseemly.  After  all,  dress 
is  but  a  conventional  affair.  Ideas  of  modesty  too  are 
altogether  relative  and  conventional,  and,  as  observed 
by  Professor  Westermarck,  it  is  not  the  feeling  of 
shame  that  has  provoked  the  covering,  but  the  cover¬ 
ing  that  has  provoked  the  feeling  of  shame. 

Westermarck  observes: — “In  a  State  where  all  go 
*  ;*rfectly  nude,  nakedness  must  appear  quite  natural, 
i,r  what  we  see  day  after  day  makes  no  special  impres¬ 
sion  upon  us.  *  *  *  Several  travellers  have  noted 

that  there  is  nothing  indecent  in  absolute  nakedness 
when  the  eyes  have  got  accustomed  to  it.  ‘Where  all 
men  go  naked,  as  for  instance  in  New  Holland’  says 
Forster,  ‘custom  familiarizes  them  to  each  other’s 
eyes,  as  much  as  if  they  went  wholly  muffied  up  in 
garments.’  Speaking  of  a  Port  Jackson  woman  who 
was  entirely  uncovered,  Captain  Hunter  remarks, 
There  is  such  an  air  of  innocence  about  her  that 
clothing  scarcely  appears  necessary.”  With  reference 
to  the  Uaupe’s,  Mr.  Wallace  records  his  opinion  that 
‘there  is  far  more  immodesty  in  the  transparent  and 
flesh  coloured  garments  of  our  stage  dancers  than  in 
the  perfect  nudity  of  these  daughters  of  the  forest.* 
Describing  the  naked  savages  of  Tierradel  Fuego,  Cap¬ 
tain  Snow  says,  ‘An  eminent  historian  has  well  observed 
that  ‘drapery  may  be  more  alluring  than  exposure;’  and 
strictly  speaking,  so  it  is.  Familiarity  with  the  naked 
savages  of  differeut  lands  would,  I  believe,  do  m:>re  to 

t.  Life  and  Sport  in  Southern  India  by  Col.  Drary  p.  215. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  209 

lessen  particular  immorality  and  vice  than  millions  of 
sermons  probably  ever  will  or  can  *  *  *  More  harm, 
I  think,  is  done  by  false  modesty  by  covering  and  part¬ 
ly  clothing  than  by  the  truth  in  nature  always  appear¬ 
ing  as  it  is,  as  it  is  with  savages  of  wild  lands  who  do  not 
clothe.  This  gives  one,  I  believe,  less  impure  and 
sensual  feelings  than  the  merely  mixing  with  society 
of  a  higher  kind*”  1 

In  his  Ethnographic  Notes  Mr.  Edger  Thurston 
illustrates  this  by  referring  to  the  difference  in  beha¬ 
viour  of  the  native  females  of  Malabar  and  the  Tamil 
women  of  the  East  Coast.  ‘‘  A  Tamil  woman  ,”  says 
he,  “  young  or  old  and  wizened,  going  along  the  high 
road  with  breasts  partially  uncovered  by  her  ample 
body  cloth,  will,  when  she  sees  a  European  coming, 
pull  the  cloth  over  them  from  a  feeling  of  shame  in  the 
presence  of  the  foreigner,  which  is  absent  in  the  presence 
of  her  fellow  countrymen.  So  too  a  Tamil  or  Toda 
woman,  when  undergoing  the  process  of  measurement 
at  my  hands,  is  most  particular  in  arranging  the  upper 
garment  so  as  to  conceal  her  breasts, whereas  a  Malabar 
woman  has  no  hesitation  in  appearing  with  breasts 
completely  exposed,  or  in  throwing  off  the  slender 
wrapper  which  may  cover  her  shoulders,  and  considers 
the  exposure  in  no  way  immodest.  There  is  but  little 
relation  between  dress  and  conduct.  If  there  be  any, 
the  observation  made  by  the  keen  sighted  Abbe’Dubois 
shows  that  in  one  instance  at  least  it  is  not  the  most 
decently  clothed  that  leads  a  most  virtuous  life.  The 
learned  Abbe,  says  ‘of  all  the  women  in  India,  it  is 
especially  the  courtesans  (dancing  girls  or  Devadasis) 
who  are  the  most  decently  clothed,  as  experience  has 
no  doubt  taught  them  that  for  a  woman  to  display  her 
charms  damps  sensual  ardour  instead  of  exciting  it, 
and  that  the  imagination  is  more  captivated  than  the 
eye.  ”  That  the  idea,  indicated’ was  not  foreign  to  the 
women  of  Malabar  would  appear  from  what  Mr.  Elic 

i«  P.  iQ2 — 3,  History  of  Human  Marriage. 


210  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

• 

Reclus  says  of  the  Tiyya  women,  “The  women,  however 
modest  and  discreet,  will  wear  no  garment  above  the 
waist;  they  are  not  prostitutes,  they  say,  that  they 
should  cover  their ‘bosom*  English  ladies  who  engage 
them  as  nurses,  have  tried  over  and  over  again,  in  the 
name  of  British  decorum,  to  make  them  wear  a  necker¬ 
chief  but  have  encountered  the  determined  resistence 
which  they  themselves  would  have  offered  had  they 
been  asked  to  promenade  the  highways  unclothed.”* 

Almost  all  the  mediaeval  travellers  tell  us  that  the 
Nsyars,  both  men  and  women,  used  to  grow  their  hair 
long  and  have  it  tied  up  on  the  top  of  the  head.  The 
women  still  grow  their  hair  long  and  throw  it  tied  in  a 
knot  behind,  or  make  a  beautiful  looking  chignon  of  it 
and  place  it  coquettishly  on  the  top  or  on  the  side  of 
the  head.  The  men  have  only  a  front  tuft  now,  grown 
as  long  as  possible,  generally  tied  in  a  knot  and  placed 
on  the  left  side  of  the  head.  This  is  known  as  the 
Kudumi .  In  the  16th  century,  Linschoten  informs  us 
that  “they  weare  their  haire  as  long  as  it  will  grow, 
tyed  on  the  top  or  crowne  of  their  heads  with  a  lace, 
both  men  and  women.”  So  also  Coeser  Fredrick  who 
says  “they  have  their  haire  very  long  and  rolled  up  to¬ 
gether  on  the  toppe  of  their  heads.”  Vasco  da  Gama 
found  the  Zamorin  “with  a  long  dark  hair  all  gathered 
up  and  tied  on  the  top  of  his  head  with  a  knot  made  in 
it.”  Barbosa  says,  “they  wear  their  hair  tied  upon  the 
top  of  their  heads,  and  sometimes  Galician  Casques.” 
Tavernier  observes  that  “the  Malabaries  allow  their 
hair  to  grow  like  that  of  women,  which  they  twist 
round  the  head  with  a  small  cloth  having  3  points 
tied  above.”  1  Della  Vella  says,  “Both  men  and 
women  wear  their  hair  long  and  tied  about  the 
head;  the  women  with  a  lock -  hanging  on  one  side 
under  the  ear  becomingly  enough  as  almost  all  Indian 
women  do,  the  gallantest  that  I  have  seen  in  any  other 
nation.  The  men  have  a  lock  down  the  crown  of  the 
head,  sometimes  a  little  inclined  on  one  side;  some 
t.  VoL  I,  p .  no. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  211 

of  them  use  a  small  coloured  head  band,  but  the.  women 
use  none  at  all.”  Captain  Hamilton  speaks  of  the  Raja 
Onniteree  wearing  “no  ornament  on  his  head,  but  a 
very  beautiful  head  of  hair  hanging  over  his  shoulders. 
His  Queen  and  daughters  were  in  the  same  habit  only 
their  hair  was  tied  up  behind.”  About  the  latter  part 
of  the  1 8th  century,  the  men  began  to  have  their  heads 
shaved  bearing  the  front  tuft  on  the  crown  of  the 
head  which  they  allow  to  grow  long.  They  began  also 
to  have  their  faces  shaved  clean  without  having  any 
beard  or  mustaches.  Barbosa  tells  us  that  in  his  day 
the  Nsyars  used  to  “shave  their  beards  and  leave  the 
mustaches  very  long,  and  after  the  manner  of  the 
Turks.”  That  the  people  were  not  averse  to  wear  Jong 
beards  as  they  seem  to  be  now,  is  evident  from  Della 
Vella’s  description  of  the  Zamorin  with  whom  he  had 
an  audience.  He  says,  “His  (/.<?.,  Zamorin’s)  beard 
was  somewhat  long  and  equally  round  about  his  face.” 
The  habit  of  wearing  mustaches  and  whiskers  continu¬ 
ed  till  but  recently  in  Travancore,  and  the  mustache 
is  once  more  coming  into  fashion  there.  In  the  Cochin 
State  and  in  the  Malabar  District  as  also  in  Travancore, 
the  fashion  of  cropping  the  hair  on  the  head  in  the 
European  style,  and  having  the  chin  shaved  close,  is 
steadily  making  progress.  Here  too  an  unwritten 
order,  or  at  any  rate  an  order  not  duly  published,  of  the 
Cochin  Darbar  at  one  time  prohibited  the  admission 
into  temples  of  those  who  have  their  hair  cropped  and 
are  without  their  tuft.  This  injunction  also  was  but 
seldom  enforced  by  local  authorities  who  seem  to  be 
partial  towards  this  change  in  fashion- 

Both  men  and  women  used  to  have  tneir  ears  bored 
and  wear  them  long,  the  larger  the  opening  the  greater 
the  beauty!  Coeser  Fredrick  tells  us,  “The  Nair  and 
their  wives  make  great  holes  in  their  ears  and  so  bigge 
and  wide,  that  it  is  incredible,  holding  this  opinion,  that 
the  greater  the  holes  bee  the  more  noble  they  esteeme 
themselves.  I  had  leave  of  one  of  them  to  measure 
the  circumfrence  of  one  of  them  with  a  thread  and 


213  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

within  that  circumfrence  I  put  my  arm  up  to  the 
shoulder,  clothed  as  it  was,  so  that  it  was  monstrous 
great.  Thus  they  do  make  them  when  they  be  little, 
for  then  they  open  the  ear,  and  hang  a  piece  of  gold 
or  lead  thread,  and  within  the  opening,  in  the  hole 
they  put  on  certain  leaf  that  they  have  for  that  purpose, 
which  maketh  the  hole  so  great.”  This  is  confirmed 
by  Linschoten,  who  says,  “The  lappe  of  their  ears 
are  open,  and  are  so  long  that  they  hang  down  to  their 
shoulders,  and  the  longer  and  wider  they  are,  the  more 
they  are  esteemed  by  them  and  it  is  thought  to  be  a 
beautie  in  them.”  “They  have  horrible  great  ears  with 
many  rings  set  with  pearls  and  stones  in  them,”  says 
Fitch.  “They  take  singular  pride,”  says  Nieuhoff ,  “in 
having  long  ears,  which  they  perform  by  art,  they  bore 
holes  through  the  ears  of  both  boys  and  girls,  which  they 
fill  up  with  palm-tree  leaves  rolled  together.”  This 
custom  seems  to  have  continued  till  the  first  half  of  the 
18th  century,  for  Grose,  voyaging  about  this  time,  has 
the  following  observation,  “Most  of  the  Malabars,  male 
and  female,  are  particularly  fond  of  having  their  ears 
ha-ng  almost  as  low  as  their  shoulders,  which  is  effected 
while  they  are  young  by  boring  the  lobes  of  them,  and 
introducing  a  slip  of  a  brab  tree  leaf  spirally  folded  and 
renewed  in  proportion  as  the  whole  grows  wider  and 
wider  from  the  constant  elasticity  of  its  straightness, 
and  when  arrived  at  its  utmost,  they  adorn  them  with 
ear  pendants,  heavy  enough  one  would  imagine  to  burst 
the  gristle,  in  the  upper  part  of  which  they  also  stick 
jewels  of  value  according  to  their  circumstances.”  At 
present  the  men  do  not  elongate  the  lobes  of  their  ears 
though  they  still  bore  them  as  any  other  caste  Hindu. 
The  women  have  not  yet  left  off  “long  ears,”  tl  ough 
the  tendency  is  to  narrow  the  holes  on  the  lobes.  An¬ 
other  habit  that  has  gone  out  of  use  is  the  growing  of 
finger  nails.  At  one  time  the  idea  was  current  among 
the  Nayars,  as  among  the  Chinese,  that  the  long  nail  was 
si  sign  of  their  being  gentlemen.  We  learn  from  Lins¬ 
choten  that  “The  Nayros  weare  the  nails  of  the  hand 


In  trod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  218 

very  long,  whereby,  they  show  that  they  are  gentlemen, 
because  the  longnesse  ot  the  nails  doth  let  and  hinder 
men  from  working  or  doing  any  labour”.  “They  say 
likewise  that  they  doe  it,  the  better  and  faster  to  gripe 
a  thing  in  their  hands  and  to  hold  their  rapiers,  which 
some  Portugals  and  Mesticos  doe  likewise  use  and 
hold  the  same  opinion  with  the  Nayros,  whereof  there 
are  many  in  India  which  let  their  nails  grow  for  the 
same  cause.”  Thus  it  was  not  mere  vanity  that  impelled 
them  to  grow  their  nails.  They  seem  to  have  had  an  eye 
to  utility  as  well.  Taverneir  limits  the  growing  of  the 
nails  to  the  left  hand,  and  also  refers  to  additional  rea¬ 
sons  as  to  why  they  observed  the  habit.  “I  may  say,” 
observes  he,  “that  the  Malabaries  in  general  carefully 
preserve  the  nails  of  their  left  hands  *  *  *  *  *.  These 
nails  which  are  sometimes  half  a  finger  long,  serve 
them  as  combs,  indeed  they  have  no  others.”  If  the 
modern  Nayar  has  given  up  the  habit,  the  Naipbupri 
has  taken  it  up.  “The  Nambootiris”,  says  the  Travan - 
core  Census'  Report*  “are  passionate  growers  of  finger 
nails,  which  are  in  some  cases  more  than  a  foot  long 
and  serve  useful  purposes.” 

Ornaments .  We  learn  from  Marco  Polo  that  in 
his  day  the  Kings  of  Malabar  wore  a  necklace  full  set 
with  rubies,  etc.  “He  wears  also  round  3  parts,  both 
of  his  arms  and  legs,  bracelets  of  gold,  full  of  goodly 
stones  and  pearls.”  Friar  Jordanus  also  refers  to  the 
Malabar  Kings  wearing  on  “their  arms  gold  and  silver 
rings  and  on  the  neck  a  golden  collar  with  a  great  abun¬ 
dance  of  jems.”  Vasco  da  Gama  found  the  Zamorin 
rather  elaborately  got  up  for  the  interview  he  had  with 
the  prince.  The  Zamorin  whom  Della  Vella  interviewed 
“had  divers  bracelets  on  his  arms,  pendants  at  his  ears, 
and  other  ornaments  with  many  jewels  and  rubies  of 
value.”  The  King  of  Quilon  with  whom  Albuquerque 
formed  a  compact  from  the  beach  at  Quilon  “was 
dressed  in  slik  embroidered  with  an  upper  robe  of  gold 
muslin;  he  wore  rings  of  considerable  value,  and  had 
on  his  head  a  crimson  velvet  cap  highly  ornamented 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


L.  20. 


with  jewels,  and  long  chains  of  pearls  and  brilliants 
hanging  from  the  top  of  his  cap  with  his  hair  flowing 
loose  upon  his  shoulders”.  The  exiled  Raja  of  Cochin 
who  sought  and  obtained  the  assistance  of  the  Dutch 
and  who  lived  with  them  at  Quilon  is  described  by 
Captain  Neiuhoff  as  “being  commonly  clad  in  white 
calicoe  with  his  hair  tied  in  a  knot  on  the  top  of  his 
head,  rings  on  his  fingers  and  a  gold  chain  hanging 
down  before  him.”  Of  the  then  reigning  King  of 
Torcad  Nieuhoff  says,  “he  was  adorned  with  many 
jewels  of  diamonds  and  rubies  which  he  wore  on  his 
hands,  arms  and  ears  according  to  the  Malabar 
fashion.  ”  A  predecessor  of  this  prince  who  paid  a 
visit  to  Archbishop  Menezes  is  described  as  being 
gorgeously  apparelled  and  covered  with  gold  and 
jewels. 

Of  the  Nayars  in  genera^  Barbosa  says,  “Their 
ears  are  bored,  and  they  wear  in  them  very  precious 
jewels  and  pearls  set  in  gold,  and  on  their  arms  from 
the  elbows  upwards  gold  bracelets,  with  similar  jewels 
and  strings  of  very  large  pearls.  At  fheir  waists  over 
their  cloths  they  wear  jewelled  girdles  three  fingers  in 
width,  very  well  wrought  and  of  great  value.”  Accord¬ 
ing  to  Linschoten,  the  ordinary  Nsyar  is  distinguished 
from  their  chiefs  by  the  ornaments  worn  by  the  latter. 
“The  principallest  or  the  chiefest  of  those  Nayros, 
which  are  leaders  or  captaines  of  certain  numbers  of 
Nayros,  wear  a  gold  or  silver  bracelet  or  ring,  about 
their  arms,  above  their  elbows,  as  also  their  Governours, 
Ambassadours,  and  Kings,  whereby  they  are  known 
from  other  men”.  Captain  Nieuhoff  also  remarks  that 
“for  persons  of  the  chiefest  rank,  if  they  will  be  admit¬ 
ted,  in  the  number  of  the  Nayros,  must  have  the  King’s 
peculiar  leave  for  it  and  are  afterwards  distinguished  by 
a  gold  ring  they  wear  on  the  right  arm  or  by  a  buffalo’s 
horn.”  “Both  sexes,”  says  Della  Vella  “have  their  arms 
full  of  bracelets,  their  ears  of  pendants,  and  their  necks 
of  jewels.”  At  his  interview  with  the  Zamorin,  the  ladies 
of  the  Royal  household  were  present.  “No  less  full” 


In  trod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  215 

says  Della  Vella,  “were  the  higher  cloisters  round 
about  of  women,  who  stood  there  to  behold  us,  amongst 
whom  stood  apart  in  the  most  eminent  place  the  Queene, 
sister  to  the  King,  a  woman  of  ripe  age,  clothed  in  blue 
cotton  as  to  her  lower  parts  and  abundantly  adorned 
with  jewels’ \  Captain  Nieuhoff,  who  had  an  audience 
with  the  Queen  of  Quilon  in  March  1664,  observes, 
“she  had  a  guard  of  above  700  soldiers  about  her,  all 
clad  after  the  Malabar  fashion,  the  Queen’s  attirement 
being  no  more  than  a  piece  of  calicoe  wrapt  round  her 
middle,  the  upper  part  of  her  body  appearing  for  the 
most  part  naked,  with  a  piece  of  calicoe  hanging  care¬ 
lessly  round  her  shoulders.  Her  ears,  which  are  very 
long,  her  neck  and  arms  were  adorned  with  precious 
stones,  gold  rings  and  bracelets,  and  her  head  covered 
with  a  piece  of  white  calicoe.” 

Captain  Alexander  Hamilton  who  visited  Onnitree 
in  his  palace  describes  him  as  “a  man  of  good  aspect 
about  40  years  of  age,  of  an  olive  colour,  his  dress  was 
only  a  silk  lungi  or  scarf  made  fast  by  a  girdle  of  gold 
plate  about  his  middle  that  reached  to  his  knees  with 
great  jewels  of  massy  gold  set  with  rubies,  emeralds 
and  pearls  hanging  at  his  ears  but  no  ornaments  on  his 
head.” 

Before  we  proceed  to  refer  to  the  ornaments  that 
are  now  in  use,  it  will  be  interesting  to  quote  here  two 
passages,  one  describing  the  get-up  of  the  Zamorin  on 
the  occasion  of  Vasco  da  Gama’s  first  audience  with 
the  King,  and  the  other  describing  how  the  Nsyar 
women  of  Barbosa’s  time  adorned  themselves. 

The  appearance  of  the  King  at  this  interview  is 
thus  described:  “The  King  was  sitting  in  his  chair 
which  the  factor”  (who  had  proceeded  Da  Gama  with 
the  presents)  “had  got  him  to  set  upon;  he  was  a  very 
dark  man,  half-naked,  and  clothed  with  white  cloths 
from  the  middle  to  the  knees,  one  of  these  cloths  ended 
in  a  long  point  on  which  were  threaded  several  gold 
rings  with  large  rubies  which  made  a  great  show.  'He 
had  on  his  left  arm  a  bracelet  above  the  elbowv  which 


216  BETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

seemed  like  three  rings  together,  the  middle  one  larger 
than  the  others,  all  studded  with  rich  jewels,  particu¬ 
larly  the  middle  one  which  bore  large  stones  which 
could  not  fail  to  be  of  very  great  value.  From  the 
middle  ring  hung  a  pendent  stone  which  glittered ;  it 
was  a  diamond  of  the  thickness  of  a  thumb ;  it  seemed 
a  priceless  thing.  Round  his  neck  was  a  string  of 
pearls,  and  all  full  of  rubies,  in  the  middle  was  a  green 
stone  of  the  size  of  a  large  bean,  which,  from  its  showi¬ 
ness,  was  of  great  price,  which  was  called  an  emerald; 
and  according  to  the  information  which  the  Castilian 
afterwards  gave  the  Captain-Major  of  this  jewel, 
and  of  that  which  was  in  the  bracelet  on  his  arm,  and 
of  another  pearl  which  the  King  wore  suspended  in  his 
hair,  they  were  all  three  belonging  to  the  ancient  trea¬ 
sury  of  the  Kings  of  Calicut.  The  King  had  long 
dark  hair  all  gathered  up  and  tied  on  the  top  of  his 
head  with  a  knot  made  in  it;  and  round  the  knot  he  had 
a  string  of  pearls  like  those  round  his  neck,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  string  a  pendant  pearl,  pear  shaped  and 
larger  than  the  rest,  which  seemed  a  thing  of  great 
value.  His  ears  were  pierced  with  large  holes  with 
many  gold  ear-rings  of  round  beads.  Close  to  the 
King  stood  a  boy,  his  page,  with  a  cloth  round  him: 
he  held  a  red  shield  with  a  border  of  gold  and  jewels 
and  a  boss  in  the  centre,  of  a  span’s  breadth,  of  the 
same  materials,  and  the  rings  inside  for  the  arms  were 
of  gold;  also  a  short  drawn  sword  of  an  ell’s  length, 
round  at  the  point,  with  a  hilt  of  gold,  a  jewellery  with 
pendant  pearls.  On  the  other  side  stood  another 
page,  who  held  a  gold  cup  with  a  wide  rim  into  which 
the  King  spat;  and  at  the  side  of  his  chair  was  his  chief 
Brahman  who  gave  him  from  time  to  time  a  green  leaf 
closely  folded  with  other  things  inside  it  which  the 
King  ate  and  spat  into  the  cup.”  K 

Barbosa’s  description  of  the  bejewelled  Njyar 
women  is  as  follows: — “They  assemble  in  the  King’s 
house,  very  much  adorned  with  jewelry,  gold  belts, 
x.  Malabar  P.  298. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  21T 

pearls  and  many  bracelets  of  gold,  and  many  rings 
with  precious  stones,  and  ankle  rings  of  gold  on  their 
legs  and  dressed  from  the  waist  downwards  with  very 
much  silk  stuffs  and  others  of  very  fine  cotton,  and  from 
the  waist  upwards  bare,  and  anointed  with  sandal  and 
perfumes  and  their  hair  wreathed  with  flowers  and 
rings  of  gold  and  precious  stones  in  their  ears,  the  feet 
bare  as  they  always  are  accustomed  to  do.” 

With  the  latter  description  may  be  compared 
the  account  of  the  dress  of  the  southern  Malabar 
women  of  the  latter  part  of  the  18th  century,  as  given 
by  Forbes: — “The  dress  of  the  Malabar  women  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  other  sex;  their  black  glossy  hair, 
tied  in  a  knot  on  the  middle  of  the  head,  is  copiously 
anointed  with  cocoanut  oil  and  perfumed  with  the 
essence  of  sandal,  mogrees  and  champakas;  their  ears* 
loaded  with  rings  and  heavy  jewels,  reach  almost  to 
their  shoulders,  this  is  esteemed  a  beauty;  instead  of  a 
small  gold  wire  in  the  orifice,  as  is  practised  in  the 
other  countries,  a  filament  from  the  cocoanut  leaf,  rol¬ 
led  around,  is  placed  in  the  incision,  the  circles  are 
increased,  until  the  orifice  sometimes  exceed  2  inches  in 
diameter,  the  ear  is  then  healed,  and,  being  stretched 
to  the  perfection  of  beauty,  is  filled  with  rings  and 
massy  ornaments.  Round  the  waist  they  wear  a  loose 
piece  of  muslin,  while  the  bosom  is  entirely  exposed; 
this  is  the  only  drapery  of  the  Malabar  women,  but 
they  are  adorned  with  a  profusion  of  gold  and  silver 
chains  for  necklaces,  mixed  with  strings  of  Venetian 
and  other  gold  coins;  they  have  also  heavy  bangles  or 
bracelets;  a  silver  box,  suspended  by  a  chain  on  one 
side,  forms  a  principal  ornament,  and  contains  the  areca 
or  betel  nut,  with  its  appendages  of  chunnam,  spice, 
and  betel  leaf.  Their  skin  is  softened  by  aromatic  oils 
especially  among  the  Nairs  and  Tetees,  who  are 
peculiarly  attentive  to  cleanliness  in  their  persons.  ”  1 

The  men  do  not  at  present  indulge  much  in  the 
use  of  ornaments.  Most  of  them  except  certain  clans 
i.  Page  249. 

AB* 


218  '  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  *©. 

wear  ear-rings  or  Katukkans.  These  are  made  of 
gold  generally,  and  as  many  as  six  are  worn  in  each 
ear  by  people  about  Palghat*  Ear-rings  set  with 
precious  stones  such  as  diamonds  and  rubies  as  also 
with  pearls  are  in  use.  Gold  rings  set  with  precious 
stones  adorn  their  fingers.  A  girdle  made  of  gold  or 
silver  round  the  waist,  to  which  the  langoti  is  tied,  is 
also  of  common  occurrence.  Beyond  these  the  only 
ornament  now  worn  is  a  watch  and  chain  by  those  who 
have  to  don  official  costume. 

The  fair  sex,  as  among  all  classes,  is  particularly 
partial  to  personal  ornamentation.  There  are  orna¬ 
ments  for  the  ear,  the  nose,  the  neck,  the  arms,  the 
waist,  the  ankles,  but  none  to  adorn  the  head  or 
the  forehead  as  among  the  Tamil  women.  The  ear 
ornament  is,  in  the  south^the  Takka,  made  of  gold, 
cylindrical  in  form  with  a  eircular  face,  in  some  cases 
set  with  precious  stones.  These  are  inserted  in  the 
large  holes  made  in  the  lobes  of  the  ears.  In  the  north 
its  place  is  taken  by  the  Tofa.  This  is  “a  two-lipped 
bi-converse  disc  holding  the  inside  of  the  ear-lobes  in  its 
circumfrential  groove. ”On  the  front  surface,  sometimes, 
precious  stones,  such  as  rubies  and  diamonds,  are  set. 
Otherwise  they  are  elaborately  carved  with  leaves  and 
flowers.  The  Tota  and  the  Takka  are  also  going  out 
of  fashion  with  the  abandonment  of  the  elongated  ear¬ 
lobes.  Preference  is  given  to  the  Kammal  which  re¬ 
quires  only  a  mere  punching  of  the  lobe.  The  left  nasal 
cartilege  is  bored  and  a  nose  screw  inserted  to  which 
is  attached  a  pendant.  •  The  former  is  known  as  Muk- 
kutti,  and  the  latter  as  nattu;  both  these  are  set  with 
stones.  There  are  certain  classes  or  clans  of  Nayars 
among  whom  the  women  do  not  bore  the  nose  or  wear 
a  nose  ornament,  saying  that  it  is  infra  dig .  For  the 
neck  there  are  various  sorts  of  ornaments.  Some  of 
them  are  the  Nagapajam  (snake’s  hood)  from  the  shape 
of  its  gold  pendant,  the  Nalupanti,  a  necklace  elaborately 
worked  in  four  strings,  the  Karitasaram,  the  Arimpit 
Magii,  the  Mampu  Mala,  the  Jan^um  Mo^ram,  the 


In  trod.  |  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  219 

Entfam  Kolal,  the  Puttsli,  etc.  All  of  these,  however, 
are  displaced  or  are  in  course  of  being  displaced 
by  the  Addiyal  and  Patakkam,  the  simple  gold 
thread  to  which  a  small  crescent  shaped  ornament 
set  with  precious  stones  is  attached  and  the  Pachchakkal 
Tsli  or  necklace  set  with  green  stones.  These  have 
become  the  fashion  of  the  day.  Bracelets  of  various 
designs  made  of  gold  are  worn  round  the  arms.  Some 
of  these  are  set  with  precious  stones.  The  old  pat¬ 
terns  that  were  thick  and  profusely  carved  have  given 
place  to  plain  ones.  The  Ksppu  and  Gulusu  have 
also  been  adopted.  The  Kachappuram  or  Aranjsl, 
made  of  gold  or  silver  in  chain  pattern  worn  round  the 
waist,  has  given  place  to  gold  and  silver  Zones  or  Uddy2- 
ftam  of  the  East  Coast-  No  anklets  are  worn  by  Nayar 
women  in  the  middle  countries.  But  in  the  south  and 

t 

in  the  north,  the  younger  folk  are  taking  to  the  Pada- 
saram  and  the  Kolusu.  Elderly  women  satisfy  them¬ 
selves  with  a  thick  gold  thread  to  which  is  at¬ 
tached  a  Tali  or  nSli  pendant  set  with  stones.  They 
may  have  a  finger  ring  or  two- Those  who  are  religious¬ 
ly  inclined  wear  round  their  necks  Rudraksham  or 
'J'uiasi  mounted  in  gold  in  the  shape  of  necklaces,  the 
pendant  to  which  in  the  case  of  Rudraksham  being 
what  is  called  Gouri  Sankar  (Siva  and  Parvati.) 

Habitation  and  Furniture .  We  have  given  else¬ 
where  a  description  of  the  houses  inhabited  by  the 
Nayars  in  general.  It  will  not  be  uninteresting  to 
quote  here  a  fine  description  of  a  Nayar  house  of  the 
better  class  given  by  Col;  James  Welsh  in  his  Military 
Reminiscences . 

“On  the  20th  of  September,  I  left  Calicut  for  the 
residence  of  my  Wynad  friend  Kalpilly  Canarahmenoen,1 
which  is  about  12  miles  distant  in  a  south-easterly 
direction  and  six  from  the  sea-shore. 3  ? 

“In  the  middle  of  a  most  fertile  and  extensive  valley, 
the  estate  of  my  friend  stands  conspicuous  for  culti¬ 
vation.  His  house  is  on  the  western  side  of  a  long 

1.  Kanara  Menoirs  house  was  near  Feroke,  near  Calicut. 


220 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


|X*  26. 

tange  of  paddy  ground,  the  property  of  his  family,  and 
two  of  his  brothers  are  the  principal  farmers.  Being 
nearly  square,  the  whole  compound  is  surrounded  with 
a  high  mud  wall,  covered  with  shrubs  at  the  top  to 
protect  it  from  the  violence  of  the  rain,  having  one 
entrance  to  the  eastward,  through  a  very  neat  upstair 
building,  the  lower  part  being  the  portico  and  situated 
in  the  centre  of  the  wall.  There  are  also  two  separate 
houses  beyond  this,  and  various  smaller  buildings  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  well-stocked  garden.  This  place  of  abode 
in  peaceful  times  is  common  to  all  the  Nsyars  of  rank  and 
property  in  Malabar;  and  the  saying  so  common  in 
England,  that  ‘every  man’s  house  is  his  own  castle’, 
is  completely  verified  here,  for  this  and  many  other 
Nayars  houses,  might  be  defended  by  20  resolute  men, 
against  thousands  without  guns,  and  even  four  days 
against  field  pieces  only.  On  the  top  of  the  porte  cockered 
I  took  up  my  abode  for  four  days.”  2 

As  for  their  furniture,  this  is  but  scanty.  Speak¬ 
ing  of  the  Kings  of  Malabar,  Barbosa  says,  “when  they 
are  in  their  houses  they  always  sit  on  high  benches; 
these  benches  are  very  smooth,  and  are  slightly  smeared 
once  every  day  with  cowdung,  and  they  keep  there 
a  stand  very  white  and  4  fingers  high  and  a 
cloth  of  brown  wool  undyed,  after  the  manner  of 

1.  Purathu  Kacheri===out-office. 

2.  “The  general  picture  ot  grave  and  simple  purity  of  the  women 
of  Malabar  is  heightened  by  their  houses,  each  aloof  and  separate 
with  a  certain  quiet  dignity  in  its  own  grounds.  A  bathing-tank 
and  a  garden,  these  are  the  first  conditions  of  every  household; 
and  the  garden  is  luxuriant  with  the  great  rough  stems  of  the 
jack- fruit  tree,  the  graceful  areca  and  cocoanut  palms  and  the 
bright  green  broad  leaved  banana  plants.  *  *  The  house  itself, 
with  its  large  household  all  related  through  the  female  line,  has 
its  kitchen  and  store-room,  an  open  court-yard  and  a  large  dining 
hall,  and  apartments  for  men  and  women  segregated  entirely  one 
from  the  other.  In  such  houses,  a  certain  quiet  discipline  and 
an  instinctive  order,  from  being  a  duty,  becomes  a  constant  habit. 
Comfort  and  tranquility,  if  they  are  to  be  had,  exact  self-effacing 
restraint  and  gentle  deference  to  other’s  wishes  and  requirements.” 
Mr.  Otto  RothfeldVs  Woman  of  India >  pages  83  and  84. 


A  TYPICAL  NAMKUTHIRI  ILLAM  (HOUSK). 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  221 

a  carpet  of  the  size  of  a  horse-cloth  folded  in  ,3  folds  ; 
and  upon  this  they  sit,  and  they  lean  upon  pillows, 
round  and  long,  of  cotton,  of  gold  and  silk  and  they  also 
sit  on  carpets  of  cloth  of  gold  and  silk  but  they  always  keep 
under  them,  or  near  them,  that  cloth  of  brown  wool,  on 
account  of  their  sect,  and  for  state.  And  frequently 
they  happen  to  be  lying  on  couches  and  cushions  of 
silk  and  very  fine  white  sheets,  and  when  any  one 
comes  to  see  them  they  bring  him  this  brown  woollen 
cloth  and  put  it  near  him,  and  when  he  goes  out,  a 
page  carries  the  cloth  folded  before  him  for  state 
and  ceremony.’’  1  Barbosa  is  evidently  referring 
to  PulpSya,  a  kind  of  very  fine  mat  in  variegated 
colours  and  designs  made  of  a  sort  of  grass.  They 
are  of  very  soft  texture  and  ar  speciality  of  Malabar 
that  is  much  admired. 

Bartolomeo’s  account  of  the  furniture  used  by  the 
poorer  class  of  Nayars  in  their  households  is  true  of 
the  generality  of  Nayars  of  that  sort  even  today.  He 
says,  “Their  whole  furniture  consists  of  a  Kattila , 
or  bed-frame,  on  which  a  mat  is  placed  ;  a  few  flat 
dishes  of  copper  or  brass  ;  a  Kindi,  or  brass  drink¬ 
ing  vessel'  with  a  spout ;  a  pot  or  kettle,  in  which 
they  boil  their  rice  ;  a  Vilacca ,  or  round  lamp  of  iron 
or  brass,  fastened  to  a  chain,  by  which  it  can  be  sus¬ 
pended  in  the  middle  of  the  hut ;  and  a  large  wooden 
mortar,  in  which  they  pound  their  Nella>  or  unshelled 
rice.  ”  2  He  remarks  that  “  though  the  Indians 
see  daily  before  them  the  furniture  and  cooking 
utensils  of  the  Europeans,  they  have  never  yet 
thought  proper  to  make  use  of  them.  The  customs 
prevalent  among  them  three  thousand  years  ago  still 
remain  unchanged.”  However  the  long  felt  want  of 
change  has  now  begun  to  set  in. 

Chairs,  tables,  sofas,  and  almirahs,  cups,  saucers, 
china  and  glassware  are  of  common  use.  The  old  brass 
lamps  have  given  place  to  kerosine  lights,  specially 

1.  Pages  104— 105 

2.  Pages  155— .6 


222  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

because  cocoanut  oil  has  gone  up  in  price.  While  the 
poor  people  use  kerosine  fed  tin  lights,  the  higher  class¬ 
es  use  glass  lamps  and  shades.  Amongst  the  educated 
classes  who  have  had  the  benefit  of  western  ideas 
tolerably  well  furnished  drawing  rooms  of  European 
pattern  are  common. 

Food  and  drink •  As  a  class  the  Nsyars  are  not 
strict  vegetarians,  though  those  who  affect  superiority 
ostentatiously  avoid  flesh  meat.  Varthema  says  of  the 
“Pagans”  of  Calicut  that  they  do  not  eat  flesh  without 
the  permission  of  the  Brahmans.  He  adds  that  “the 
other  classes  of  the  people  eat  flesh  of  all  kinds,  with 
the  exception  of  cow-beaf.”  Varthema  tells  us  that 
hog's  flesh  was  served  at  a  Hindu  ruler’s  public  feasts 
while  the  Mahomedan  Chinese  traveller  Ma  Huan 
speaks  of  a  potentate  making  a  bargain  with  the  Ma- 
homedans  that  he  would  leave  off  the  use  of  hog’s  flesh 
if  the  Mahomedans  of  that  place,  on  their  parts  gave  up 
eating  beaf.  Of  their  food  and  the  mode  of  taking  it, 
Varthema  says  “The  said  Pagans  eat  on  the  ground  in 
a  metal  basin  and  for  a  spoon  make  use  of  the  leaf  of  a 
tree  (the  jack  tree)  and  they  always  eat  rice  and  fish  and 
spices  and  fruits.  The  two  classes  of  peasants  eat  with 
the  hand  from  the  pipkin,  they  hold  the  handover  the 
pipkin  and  make  a  ball  of  rice,  and  then  put  it  into 
their  mouths.” 

We  have  an  accurate  description  of  the  food  of  the 
Malabar  people  and  the  way  in  which  they  take  it  given 
us  by  Fra  Bartolomeo.  We  make  no  apology  for  quot* 
ing  it  here  in  extenso .  “The  Indians  (meaning  Mala- 
yalees),  after  the  manner  of  all  the  oriental  nations, 
never  eat  at  noon.  In  the  morning,  before  they  go  out 
to  labour, they  generally  take  their  cangi  or  beverage, 
consisting  of  water  in  which  a  certain  quantity  of  rice 
has  been  boiled  till  all  its  mealy,  nourishing,  and  cool¬ 
ing  particles  are  dissolved.  After  this  breakfast  they 
proceed  to  their  labour  and  continue  it  without  inter¬ 
ruption  till  about  4  o’clock.  An  hour  after  or  some¬ 
times  later,  they  take  their  evening  meal;  go  to  sleep 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


223 


at  sun-set,  and  rise  next  morning  at  break  of  day.  This 
mode  of  life  is  perfectly  agreeable  to  the  nature  of 
man,  for  whom  the  elements  and  heavenly  bodies  were 
created.  It  not  only  saves  the  Indians  a  great  deal  of 
oil,  but  secures  to  them  agreeable  repose  and  preserves 
their  bodies  healthful.  The  day  and  the  night  are 
almost  always  of  the  same  length  near  the  equator,  and 
therefore  they  seldom  or  never  depart  from  the  above 
regular  course.  The  women  are  obliged  to  cook  and 
to  place  the  dishes  on  the  table.  The  husband  and 
wife  never  eat  together,  for  the  Indians  consider  it  as 
indecent  and  contrary  to  that  respect  which  is  due  to 
the  former.  The  consequence  is,  that  their  meals  are 
very  short;  and  that  nothing  takes  place  in  the  presence 
of  the  rest  of  the  family  which  can  offend  against 
decency  or  good  manners.  At  table  they  use  merely 
the  right  hand;  for  the  left,  with  which  they  wash  the 
lower  part  of  the  body  etc.,  they  look  upon  as  un¬ 
clean.  The  rice  is  served  up  on  a  broad  banana  leaf, 
which  supplies  the  place  of  a  dish,  and  near  it  is  placed 
the  Karil  (curry),  that  is,  soup  which  consists  of  herbs 
fruit,  pepper  and  cardamoms.  It  is  exceedingly  well 
prepared;  has  a  delicious  smell  and  a  pungent  taste. 
This  soup  they  pour,  at  different  times,  over  the  rice, 
which  in  very  small  morsels  they  put  into  their  mouth 
with  the  right  hand.  If  they  have  no  Kail  or  spoon 
they  employ  in  its  stead  a  Mava  (jack  or  Pilavcft)  leaf 
rolled  together.  When  their  meal  is  finished,  they 
throw  away  their  dish  and  spoon,  because  leaves  of  the 
like  kind  may  be  everywhere  found.  Persons  of  con¬ 
dition,  however,  employ  at  their  meals  vessels  of  cop¬ 
per  and  brass,  which  they  keep  remarkably  clean,  and 
which  are  always  washed  after  they  have  been  used. 
They  eat  along  with  their  rice  sour  milk  and  butter  or 
herbs  which  have  been  baked  in  butter  or  oil.  The 
King  of  Travancore  has  generally  at  his  table  fifteen 
different  kinds  of  soup,  which  are  varied  from  time  to 
time.  He  eats  also  preserved  nutmegs  with  his  rice, 
which  of  itself  has  an  excellent  and  aromatic  taste# 


224  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  (L.  ao. 

During  their  meals,  the  Indians  sit  down  on  a  mat 
spread  out  on  the  floor,  and  according  to  oriental  cus- 
tom,  place  their  legs  across  each  other  under  them. 
They  drink  nothing  but  water;  and  when  they  wish  to 
quench  their  thirst,  they  pour  it  from  their  Kindi, 
or  drinking  vessel,  directly  into  their  throat,  without 
letting  it  touch  their  lips”  1 

On  occasions  such  as  the  celebration  of  marriages, 
anniversaries  of  births  and  deaths,  etc.,  the  Princes, 
chiefs  and  the  wealthy  men  of  Malabar  give  grand 
entertainments  to  the  public.  We  have  a  rather  amu¬ 
sing  description  of  such  feasts  given  us  by  Grose.  He 
says,  “The  Princes  and  chiefs  of  the  Malabar  domi¬ 
nions,  and  especially  the  Zamorin  of  Calicut,  often  on 
particular  occasions,  and  festival  days,  make  entertain¬ 
ment  to  which  the  whole  country  round  is  invited,  and 
^vhere  the  quantity  rather  than  the  quality  of  the  vic¬ 
tuals  provided,  inflames  the  charge  of  them,  being 
chiefly  rice,  the  pea-like  grain  of  dhall,with  the  sauce  of 
turmeric,  cocoanut,  and  other  vegetables, all  which  arti¬ 
cles,  are  in  those  parts  extremely  cheap,  and  the  be¬ 
verage  is  never  but  pure  water.  They  are  however, 
literally  speaking,  cramming  matches,  for  it  is  not  un¬ 
common  for  some  of  the  guests,  tempted  by  the  free 
cost  of  them,  to  overcharge  their  stomachs,  so  as  to 
die  under  it  this  is  treated  by  the  rest  as  a  matter  of 
pleasantry,  and  when  they  mean  to  celebrate  the  mag¬ 
nificence  of  any  such  feast  they  do  it  by  telling  the 
numbers  that  burst  at  it.”2 

The  Nayars  seldom  indulge  in  rich  food.  Rice  is 
their  staple  food  and  it  is  taken  at  least  twice  a  day. 
The  water  in  which  it  is  boiled  is  strained,  and  the 
rice  is  served  on  a  plantain  leaf  or  a  metal  plate.  The 
higher  classes  use  a  little  ghee  at  morning  meals, 
which  generally  come  off  before  mid-day.  Ordinarily 
the  rice  will  be  accompanied  by  curries  made  of  veget¬ 
ables  or  meat,,  sauces*  pickles,  and  pappajams,  etc.  All 

1.  Pages  158 — 59. 

2.  Vol.  I,  p.  257, 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


Introd.J 


225 


these  are  served  along  with  the  rice  on  the  plantain 
leaves.  The  course  of  the  meals  is  first  to  mix  a 
portion  of  the  rice  with  ghee  and  dhall,  make  it  into 
small  balls,  and  put  them  into  the  mouth  with  the  right 
hand,  the  left  hand  being  strictly  forbidden.  Then 
the  remaining  portion  of  rice  is  similarly  dealt  with,  it 
being  mixed  with  the  curries  served,  each  curry  being 
used  separately.  After  this  is  over,  rice  is  served  a 
second  time.  This  is  mixed  with  curds  or  butter-milk, 
well  macerated,  made  into  balls  and  taken  as  pfr,ntioh 
ed  before.  Pickles  and  sauces  are  used  more  freely  with 
this  second  course.  A  small  and  elegant  brass  vessel 
with  a  spout  holds  the  drinking  water  which  is  always 
boiled  along  with  a  little  coriander,  cummin  seeds, 
dried  ginger, etc.  The  vessel  is  always  placed  on  the  left 
side  and,  as  occasion  requires,  it  is  taken  with  the  left  hand, 
and  the  water  poured  into  the  mouth  through  the  spout, 
which  should  on  no  account  touch  the  lips.  The  ordinary 
meal  ends  with  a  draught  of  drink.  On  festive  oc¬ 
casions,  besides  a  large  number  of  curries,  sauces,  etc., 
there  are  Payasams ,  Prathamans ,  fruits,  etc.,  served. 
Payasams  and  Prathamans  are  various  kinds  of  sweet 
puddings,  and  these  are  served  as  the  last  course. 
Fruits,  though  served  along  with  the  curries,  are 
generally  taken  last.  The  evening  meal  or  supper 
comes  on  between  7  and  9  p .  m.,  and  is  almost  of  the 
same  kind  as  the  morning  one,  only  less  elaborate  and 
of  course  less  heavy.  Before  the  regular  morning  meal 
people  used  to  have  a  light  breakfast,  taking  Kanji  or 
rice  gruel  early  in  the  morning.  Among  the  higher 
classes,  imbued  more  or  less  with  western  ideas,  the 
morning  Kanji  has  given  place  to  tea,  coffee,  or  cocoa, 
and  lunch  has  also  come  into  vogue.  About  three  in 
the  evening,  tea,  coffee,  or  cocoa,  is  taken  with  some¬ 
thing  solid,  §uch  as  bread  or  biscuits.  Friar  Jordanus 
has,  in  the  beginning  of  the  14th  century,  remarked  that 
“the  people  of  this  India  (Malabar)  are  very  clean  in 
their  feeding.”1 

•  1  Chip.  4' 

AC. 


*26  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

Barbosa  assures  us  that,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
1 6th  century,  the  Nayars  were  riot  addicted  to  spirituous 
liquors.  But  whether  introduced  by  the  Portuguese 
or  not,  the  vice  of  drink  gradually  insinuated  itself 
till  at  last  it  came  to  have  a  firm  hold  on  Malabar 
and,  in  Travancore,  had  to  be  interdicted  on  pain  of 
forfeiture  of  property.  Fra  Bartolomeo  says,  “in  the 
year  1787,  Rama  Vafma,  the  King  of  Travancore,  issued 
an  order  by  which  the  use  of  Tagara  that  is,  palm- 
bra  ndy,  was  prohibited,  under  pain  of  the  confiscation 
of  property.  At  Pullingune  (Pulinkuririu)  a  woman  was 
condemned  to  the  besom*  and  her  house  confiscated, 
because,  contrary  to  this  prohibition,  she  had  sold  Tagara 
(javaram).  The  contempt  which  the  Indians  entertain 
for  the  Europeans  arises  chiefly, from  the  latter  being 
so  much  addicted  to  drinking.  For  this  reason  also 
they  are  called  Ciandeler  or  Nisher;  that  is  contempti¬ 
ble,  impure,  unclean  people”.  When  P'orbes  wrote,  the 
Nayars  of  Travancore  abstained  from  intoxicating 
liquors.  The  use  of  all  sorts  of  intoxicants  is  strictly 
prohibited  by  the  Hindu  religious  laws. 

We  do  not  know  if  opium  and  bhang  were  in  use 
in  Malabar  before  they  were  imported  by  western 
nations,  but  Pyres,  writing  from  Cochin  to  King  Em¬ 
manuel  of  Portugal  in  the  year  1516,  enumerates  “the 
opium  of  Egypt  and  Cambay  and  Cous  [  i.  e .,  Kuch 
Behar  j  in  Bengal”,  adding  that  “the  Kings  and  Lords 
eat  of  it  and  even  the  common  people”.  According  to 
Barbosa,  opium  was  imported  into  Calicut  from  Cambay 
and  Aden.  In  the  year  1711,  Lockyer  tells  us  that  the 
price  of  opium  at  Calicut  was  “160  fanams  per  candy”. 
In  1726,  Alexander  Hamilton  notes,  “The  Chief  of 
Calicut  for  many  years  have  vended  between  500  and 
1000  chests  of  Bengal  opium  yearly  up  in  the  inland 
countries  where  it  is  much  used”.  The  Nayars  who 
fought  the  Dutch  at  the  seige  of  Cochin  are  said  to 
have  been  primed  with  intoxicants.  “They  use  amfion 
very  greedily.  They  take  the  quantity  of  the  bigness 
of  a  pea,  this  they  either  mix  with  arrack  or  chew  it 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  227 

alone.  When  they  are  to  attack,  they  take  a  good  quan¬ 
tity  of  it”,  says  the  Dutch  Captain  Nieuhoff.  The  first 
article  of  the  treaty  entered  into  by  Captain  Nieuhoff 
on  behalf  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  and  the 
Kings  of  Marta,  Singnaty,  Gouree,  Travancore,  and 
Barruyetta  Pole  (all  in  modern  Travancore),  on  the  21st 
February  1664,  provides  that  “Nobody  shall  import,  sell 
or  exchange  any  Amfion  (opium)  into  these  countries, 
except  the  Dutch  East  India  Company’’.  Fra  Bartolo¬ 
meo  informs  us  that  in  his  day  the  Amochie ,  “Nairs  who 
have  resolved  to  sacrifice  their  lives  to  serve  their  King, 
their  country,  or  any  person  whose  cause  they  have 
undertaken  to  espouse”,  used  to  be  intoxicated  with 
opium  dissolved  in  lemon  juice  or  any  acid  solvent.  He 
adds  that,  “when  prepared  in  this  manner  and  taken,  it 
renders  men  bloodthirsty,  converts  them  into  savage 
beasts,  and  inspires  them  with  such  fury,  that  they 
would  rather  suffer  themselves  to  be  cut  to  pieces  than 
give  up  the  weapon  which  they  have  in  their  hands.” 

“Formerly,”  continues  Bartolomeo, “  there  were 
a  great  many  of  these  Amochie  on  the  coast  of  Malabar, 
but  since  the  king  of  Travancore  prohibited  the  natives 
from  drinking  cocoanut  brandy,  called  Tagata>  to 
smoke  Kangavu  (Bhang),  and  to  use  opium  prepared 
as  above  mentioned,  such  ravenous  animals  in  the 
human  form  became  uncommon;  and  should  any  one 
venture,  in  so  horrid  a  manner,  to  disturb  the  tranquil¬ 
lity  of  the  public,  he  would  be  instantly  punished  with 
death.  Some  persons  however,  who  were  at  Civacada 
(Chowghat)  during  the  war  against  Tippu,  assured  me 
that  they  had  seen  several  Amochie  among  his  troops; 
but  it  is  certain,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  he  forbade  the 
use  of  opium  to  his  soldiers,  because  the  Amochie  in 
their  fury  spare  neither  friend  nor  foe,  but  destroy 
every  person  who  comes  in  their  way.”1 

At  present,  though  intoxicants  are  not  in  general 
e-SC  among  the  Nayars,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  both 
arrack  and  opium  are  consumed  by  the  lower  orders 
while,  among  the  higher  classes,  and  more  specially 

1.  P.  407* 


228 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  so* 

among  the  English  educated,  a  glass  of  brandy  and 
soda  is  steadily  coming  into  general  practice.  What 
is  to  be  deplored  is  that  the  habit,  once  confirmed, 
does  not  stop  with  a  single  glass,  and  the  difference 
between  drinking  and  getting  drunk  is  seldom  kept  in 
view.  We  have  had  instances  of  many  a  bright  career 
being  cut  short  too  early  by  a  too  free  indulgence  in 
spirituous  liquors;  and,  unless  the  pernicious  habit  is 
nipped  in  the  bud,  it  will  indeed  be  a  national  calamity. 

Occupation .  We  have  in  the  prior  volumes  already 
referred  to  the  traditional  occupation  of  the  Nsyars, 
as  ‘protection’  which  involved  ‘fighting’  and  ‘super¬ 
vision’.  The  Portuguese  Virgil,  Luis  de  Camoens,. 
has,  in  his  epic  poem,  The  Luciad ,  a  few  lines 
concerning  the  Nayars  with  whom  he  came  in  personal 
contact  three-and-a-half  centuries  ago. 

“Polias  the  labouring  lower  class  are  named; 

By  the  proud  Naires  the  noble  rank  is  claimed; 

The  toils  of  culture  and  of  art  they  scorn; 

The  Warrior’s  plumes  their  haughty  brows 

adorn; 

The  shining  faulchion  brandish’d  in  the  sight, 

Their  left  arm  wields  the  target  in  the  fight ; 

Of  danger  scornful,  ever  armed  they  stand 

Around  the  King,  a  stern  barbarian  hand.”1 

Johnathan  Duncan,  a  Governor  of  Bombay,  who 
visited  Malabar  in  1792 — 3,  thus  observes  with  re¬ 
ference  to  these  lines:  “These  lines. . .  .contain  a  good 
description  of  a  Nair,  who  walks  along,  holding  up 
his  naked  sword  with  the  same  kind  of  unconcern  as 
travellers  in  other  countries  carry  in  their  hands  a  cane 
or  walking  staff.  I  have  observed  others  of  them  have 
it  fastened  to  their  back,  the  hilt  being  stuck  in  their 
waist  band  and  the  blade  rising  up  and  glittering 
between  their  shoulders.'* 

“The  Nairs,  the  Nareae  of  Pliny2  were  the  swords¬ 
men,  the  military  caste  of  the  west  coast  of  India.  There 

x.  Mickle’s  translation,  London,  1798, 

.  Nat.  Hist.  VI,  21, 


0-5 


Cc 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  229 

are  small  sects  or  castes  intervening,  but,  broadly 
speaking,  the  Nairs  rank  after  the  Nambutiris  in  Mala¬ 
bar,  and  they  occupy  the  same  position  in  the  Native 
States  of  Cochin  and  Travancore”.1 

Caesar  Fredericke  who  was  in  Malabar  in  1563 
writes  of  them  in  the  same  strain.  “These  men  go 
naked  from  the  girdle  upwards,  with  a  clothe  rolled 
about  their  thighs,  going  barefooted,  and  having  their 
haire  very  long  and  rolled  up  together  on  the  toppe  of 
their  heads,  and  always  they  carrie  their  Bucklers  or 
Targets  with  them  and  their  swordes  naked”.* 

Dr.  E.  Thurston  has,  in  his  Caste  and  Tribes  of 
Southern  Indian  this  extract  on  the  ‘  subject  from 
Duarte  Barbosa.  3  “The  Nairs  are  the  gentry  and 
have  no  other  duty  than  to  carry  on  war,  and  they 
continually  carry  their  arms  with  them,  which  are 
swords,  bows,  arrows,  bucklers  and  lances.  They 
all  live  with  the  Kings,  and  some  of  them  with  other 
lords,  relatives  of  the  Kings,  and  lords  of  the  country, 
and  with  salaried  governors,  and  with  one  another. 
They  are  very  smart  men,  and  much  taken  up  with 
their  nobility. ..  .These  Nairs,  besides  being  all  of 
noble  descent,  have  to  be  armed  as  knights  by  the  hand 
of  a  King  or  Lord  with  whom  they  live.” 

“The  only  British  General  of  any  note — Sir  Hector 
Munro — who  had  ever  to  face  the  Nairs  in  the  field 
thus  wrote,  in  the  Tellicherry  Factory  Diary  of  1761, 
of  their  modes  of  fighting:  “One  may  as  well  look 
for  a  needle  in  a  Bottle  of  Hay  as  any  of  them  in  the 
day  time,  they  being  working  behind  sand-banks  and 
bushes,  except  when  they  are  marching  towards  the 
Fort,  and  then  they  appear  like  bees  out  in  the  month 
of  June. . .  .Besides  which,  they  point  their  guns  well 
and  fire  them  well  also. ”4 

1.  Mr.  Fawcett’s  “Nairs  of  Malabar”,  p.  1. 

2.  P.  207  in  Sir  H.  Risley’s  “The  People  of  India.* 

3.  P.  288,  Vol.  V. 

4.  Logan’s  Malabar  Manual,  p.  140. 


230 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


Men  who  exposed  to  certain  death  on  great  occasions 
been  called  Amoucos  by  the  Portuguese;  and  Barbosa 
alluded  to  the  practice  as  a  prevalent  custom  among 
the  Nsyars.  These  two  extracts  from  Hobson-Jobson, 
of  Yule  and  Burnell  are  to  the  point:1  “The  King 
of  Cochin  hath  a  great  number  of  gentlemen  which  he 
called  Amochi,  and  some  are  called  Nairi  these  esteem 
not  their  Hves  anything,  so  that  it  may  be  for  the 
honour  of  the  King’’.2  “If  the  Prince  is  slain,  the  Amochi 
who  are  numerous  would  avenge  him  desperately. 
These  are  soldiers  who  swear  to  defend  the  King’s 
life  with  their  own.  ”3  The  Malayalam  term  for 
these  men  is  Chsveftfu-viruttikksr.  These  were  given 
lands  free  of  tax  for  undertaking  to  defend  the 
King  with  their  own  lives.  The  Nayars  formed  a 
huge  militia,  and,  till  regular  standing  armies  were 
organised,  were  entrusted  with  the  protection  of  the 
land.  While  not  fighting,  they  engaged  themselves  in 
agricultural  and  other  occupations.  In  their  capacity 
of  supervisors  or  Kanakars ,  it  was  their  duty  to  see  the 
lands  of  the  Brahmans  demised  to  them  properly  culti¬ 
vated.  In  the  1 6th  century,  Linschoten  speaks  of  the 
“Nayros”  as  “Noblemen  or  Gentlemen”  which  are 
soldiers  that  do  only  warre  and  handle  arms.”  Pyrard 
de  Laval  speaks  of  them  as  “lords  of  the  land  living  on 
the  pension  allowed  them  by  the  King.”  Nieuhoff 
describes  them  as  ‘‘descended  from  noble  families  and 
brought  up  to  the  ware’5  In  Nieuhoff' s  time,  there 
were  learned  men  among  them,  but  no  traders;  for 
he  observes,  “  some  apply  themselves  to  philosophy, 
but  especially  astronomy,  but  never  to  traffick 
or  any  handicraft  trade”.  He  adds,  “Those  Nayros, 
who  are  watching  at  the  town  gates  and  serve 
for  conductors  to  travellers,  are  the  poorest  of 
all,  yet  will  they  rather  follow  this  employment 
than  a  trade  which  they  look  upon  as  below  their 


1.  2.  A.  D.  1566.  M,  Caesar  Vredericke  in  Purchas. 

3.  1\  Vincenzo  Maria  N.  Viaggo  ail  ‘India  Oriental  del  P.* 

pp.  237 — 2. 


Introd.J 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


231 


quality.’ *  “Nairs  of  the  ancient  type  were  so  many 
Spartan  warriors,”  says  Mr.  Elei  Reclus,  “so  many 
knights  of  a  court  of  Love.  All  knew  at  least  how  to 
read  and  write,  but  the  chief  part  of  their  education 
was  carried  on-in  the  gymnasium  and  the  fencing-school 
where  they  learnt  to  despise  fatigue,  to  be  careless  of 
wounds,  and  to  show  an  indomitable  courage,  often 
bordering  upon  foolish  temerity.”  Again,  “war  and 
gallantry !  Love  and  battle  !  My  sword  and  my  mistress ! 
These  were  their  devices  and  they  were  ticklish  stick¬ 
lers  for  the  point  of  honour.”  These  words  briefly 
but  characteristically  describe  the  Niyars  of  the  chival¬ 
rous  times  of  oldv  In  these  days  of  peace,  the  Nayar 
has  settled  himself  down  into  a  family  man,  engaging 
himself  in  various  walks  of  life.  We  have  already  seen 
that  various  occupations  of  life  were  '  assigned  to 
various  classes  in  the  social  hierarchy,  and  that  these 
really  determined  the  original  sub-divisions.  Thus 
there  are,  (i)  Illakklr  or  servants  of  the  Illoms,  or 
Brahman  houses  ;  (2)  Swarupakklr,  or  servants  of 
K§hetriya  houses;  (3)  Pldamangalakkir  or  temple  ser¬ 
vants;  (4)  Tamil  Pidakar,  miscellaneous  employees; 

(5)  Etacheri  Nlyars,  or  dealers  in  dairy  produce; 

(6)  Marans,  or  temple  musicians;  (7)  Attikkuruchies, 
or  undertakers;  (8)  Chempukotties,  or  copper  smiths; 
(9)  Otattu  Niyars,  or  tile  makers,  (10)  Kalam  Kot^is, 
or  potters;  (11)  Vattakafans,  or  oil  mongers;  (12) 
Paiiichans,  or  bearers  of  palanquins;  (13)  Chettis,  or 
traders  in  vegetables  and  other  domestic  necessaries, 
(14)  Chilians  or  weavers;  (15)  Velutteten,  or  washer-  1 
man,  and  (16)  Velekattalavans,  or  barbers.  There 
are  some  more  sub-divisions  representing  other  pro¬ 
fessions.  Thus  every  profession  necessary  for  the 
enjoyment  of  life  in  a  village  is  assigned  to  a  sub-divi¬ 
sion.  With  the  advance  of  civilization  on  lines  other 
than  those  originally  sketched  by  men  of  old,  there  has 
been  a  disruption  of  professions.  The  members  of  the 
various  classes  above  enumerated  do  not  at  present 
follow  the  professions  traditionally  assigned  to  them. 


232  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

The  rigorous  exclusiveness  of  the  caste  system  is  such 
that,  while  it  will  not  stand  in  the  way  of  members  of 
one  caste  or  sub-divisions  of  a  caste  training  themselves 
and  adopting  in  life  some  profession  outside  the  socio- 
religious  arrangement  peculiar  to  it,  it  will  on  no 
account  allow  any  member  of  a  caste  or  a  sub-division 
to  trespass  upon  the  profession  of  another  caste  or  sub¬ 
division.  For  instance,  a  Putuval  or  Verier  may  train 
himself  and  exercise  the  profession  of  a  lawyer,  and  so 
may  a  Nayar.  But  the  Nayar  will  on  no  account  be 
allowed  to  adopt  the  traditional  profession  of  a  Varier 
or  Pufuvai,  that  of  temple  service.  In  the  same  way,  a 
Nainbutiri  and  a  Velutteten  may  both  exercise  the 
profession  of  medicine,  but  neither  of  them  can  exercise 
the  traditional  profession  of  the  other.  The  Nambu- 
Jiri  can  be  no  more  a  washerman  than  a  Velujtgtan  a 
priest.  Thus  at  present  the  Nayars  have  taken  to  all 
such  professions  as  would  not  involve  degradation  of 
caste.  Despite  the  rigours  of  the  caste  system  and  the 
peculiarly  superstitious  rules  that  are  enforced  by 
certain  native  rulers  of  Malabar, — witness  the  excom¬ 
munication  from  caste  recently  of  a  Nayar  gentleman  in 
the  Cochin  State,  who  had  proceeded  to  England  and 
had  distinguished  himself  in  the  University  of  Cam¬ 
bridge — those  Nayars  who  can  afford  it,  make  them¬ 
selves  bold  to  cross  the  ocean  and  proceed  to  England, 
Japan  and  other  foreign  lands  for  purposes  of  education. 
Of  late,  caste  rules  seem  to  sit  somewhat  lightly  on  them, 
and  they  have  shown  an  adaptability  to  circumstances  that 
is  a  good  sign  of  the  way  to  progress.  The  following 
extract  from  the  Cochin  Census  Report  fairly  represents 
their  present  condition:— -“Their  general  intelligence, 
independence  of  character,  and  adaptability  to  circum¬ 
stances  have  not  been  less  admired,  by  foreigners  who 
have  come  across  them.  Their  present  [condition  may 
be  best  described  in  the  words  of  my  predecessor  in 
office j  who  wrote  as  follows  in  1891: 

“No  class  of  the  community  is  availing  itself  so 
much  of  the  benefits  of  modern  education  as  the  Nairsf 


SIR  K.  RAMUNNI  MENON,  M.  A.  (CANTAB) 
VICE  -  CHANCELLOR  OF 
THE  xMADRAS  UNIVERSITY. 


(  To  face  p.  232 


Introd.J 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


233 


who  are  fast  becoming  conspicuous  in  every  literate 
walk  of  life.  In  every  department  of  the  State  and  in 
all  the  learned  professions,  they  form  a  respectable 
majority,  and  the  only  people  who  successfully  compete 
with  them  in  this  respect  are  the  Brahman  immigrants 
from  the  other  coast.  While  a  large  number  of  the 
Nayars  have  thus  exchanged  the  sword  for  the  pen,  a 
still  larger  number  have  exchanged  it  for  the  plough. 
Excepting  Government  service  and  the  learned  pro¬ 
fessions,  agriculture  and  domestic  service  are  almost 
the  only  pursuits  in  which  they  are  largely  engaged. 
Among  them  there  are  extensive  landholders  and 
substantial  farmers,  but  a  large  body  of  them  are  com¬ 
paratively  poor,  and  are  either  petty  farmers  or  agricul¬ 
tural-labourers.  Domestic  servants  in  well-to-do  caste 
Hindu  families  are  almost  wholly  Nayars,  but  none  of 
them  are  artisans,  weavers,  or  potters/’ 

Home  life  habits  and  manners •  The  peculiar 
constitution  of  the  N^yar  family  is  such  that  it  consists 
of  the  common  ancestress  and  her  descendants  in  the 
female  line  including  sons  and  daughters.  Inheritance 
and  succession  to  property  is  al  ways  in  the  maternal 
line  descending  through  females.  In  the  following 
illustration  M  stands  for  mother,  S  for  son  and  D  for 
daughters. 

M 


S  D 

_ L 

I 

S  2.  D  2.  S  3. 

_ 1 _ 

r  1 

S  4.  D  3. 


D  6.  S  6.  D  7.  S  7. 

Though  descent  is  traced  from  the  mother  and 

goes  down  through  daughters,  the  family  is  controlled 

AD, 


234  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

and  governed  by  the  Ksranavar,  that  is  the  senior  male, 
who  represents  the  family  or  TarawSd.  His  position 
is  such  that  it  has  been  judicially  declared  that  “a 
Malabar  family  speaks  through  its  head  and,  in  courts 
of  justice,  except  in  antagonism  to  tl  at  head,  can  speak 
in  no  other  way.”  A  mother  and  an  elder  sister  are 
always  honoured  members,  who  take  an  active  part  in  the 
internal  government  of  the  family,  and  are  not  seldom 
consulted  in  the  management  of  the  TarawSd  property. 
It  has  been  so  from  early  days.  “  These  Nairs  ”, 
observes  Barbosa,  “show  much  respect  to  their 
mothers  and  support  them  with  what  they  gain  *  *  * 

They  also  have  much  respect  for  their  elder  sisters 
whom  they  treat  as  their  mothers.”  The  younger 
female  members  too  are  treated  with  much  consideration. 
The  elder  male  members  do  not  mingle  in  their  com¬ 
pany,  or  hold  free  conversation  with  them.  Nayar  women 
were  never  ghosha  and  were  never  shut  up  in  the  inner¬ 
most  recesses  of  the  Zenana.  So  long  ago  as  the  16th 
century,  Sheik  Zeen-ud-deen  has  observed  “Neither  do 
they  (the  Nayars)  conceal  their  women  from  the  sight 
of  any  one  ;  for  whilst  the  females  of  the  Brahman  caste 
are  kept  veiled  from  sight,  the  Nairs  adorn  their 
women  with  jewels  and  fine  clothes  and  bring  them  to 
their  great  assemblies.”  We  learn  from  Forbes  that 
Nayar  women  used  to  attend  the  Onam  tournaments. 
As  we  know  from  Della  Vella,  at  the  interview  which 
the  Portuguese  Captain  had  with  the  Zamorin,  two 
of  his  nieces  were  present  besides  the  female  members 
of  the  Zamorin’s  family  viewing  the  scene  from  the 
gallery.  Captain  Alexander  Hamilton,  on  paying  a 
formal  visit  to  King  Onnitree,  was  received  by  the  Kin^, 
his  ‘‘  Queen  ”  and  grown-up  daughters.  Hamilton 
says,  “  The  Queen  had  a  cheerful  countenance,  very 
affable  to  us  and  others  who  had  the  honour  to  stand 
near  her,  distributing  betel  and  arrecca  with  her  own 
royal  hands,  to  strangers  who  came  as  we  did  to  com¬ 
pliment  the  prince,  her  husband — ”  the  occasion  was 
“  a  visit  paid  him  by  all  his  tributaries  and  friends  to 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  335 

wish  him  many  happy  years,  it  being  his  birthday.” 
Unlike  the  Naipbutiri  women,  they  move  about  frfeely 
just  as  the  East  Coast  Brahman  women  do. 

In  a  well-ordered  TarSwad  of  the  orthodox  type,  the 
domestic  concerns  are  controlled  by  the  eldest  female — 
generally  the  mother.  The  younger  females  attend  to 
the  cooking,  the  keeping  of  the  house  scrupulously 
clean,  etc-  The  elderly  women  get  up  early  in  the 
morning  before  dawn,  see  the  house  swept  clean,  and 
sprinkled  with  water  in  which  a  little  cowdung  is 
mixed.  A  brass  lamp  well  cleaned  and  burnished  is 
lighted  and  kept  in  front  of  the  Ara  or  granary  in  the 
centre  of  the  house,  and  is  not  removed  till  sun-rise. 
The  children  of  the  house  also  get  up  early,  clean  their 
teeth,  wash  their  faces,  rub  sacred  ashes  on  their  fore¬ 
head,  breast,  and  shoulders,  and  keep  on  repeating 
prayers  till  dawn,  the  elderly  ladies  leading  them  in  the 
repetition  of  the  prayers.  By  dawn  the  yards  around  the 
house  will  also  have  been  cleaned  by  those  employed 
for  it  and  sprinkled  with  water  and  cowdung.  Then 
comes  the  cleaning  of  the  kitchen.  Before  cooking 
begins,  the  floor  and  the  ovens  are  smeared  with  cow¬ 
dung,  the  ashes  and  rubbish  of  the  previous  night  are 
all  removed,  and  the  cooking  vessels  and  other  utensils 
well  washed.  The  morning  Kanji  is  first  cooked  and 
served-  Meanwhile,  those  who  attend  to  the  regular 
cooking  work  bathe  themselves  and  generally  go  and 
worship  in  the  nearest  temple.  As  soon  as  they  return, 
they  proceed  to  their  work.  The  chief  meal  of  the  day 
is  served  between  io  and  12  a.  m.,  the  supper  between 
7  and  9  p-  m.  The  males  of  the  family  return  to 
their  own  houses  from  those  of  their  wives  early  in 
the  morning.  It  has  to  be  remarked  here  that  generally 
the  females  live  with  their  mother  in  their  own  houses 
and  are  there  visited  by  their  husbands.  In  the 
mornings,  after  taking  Kanji ,  they  go  about  their  busi¬ 
ness  and  return  in  time  for  meals.  Both  men  and  women 
bathe  before  their  meals,  especially  when  they  have  ha3 


236  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

occasion  to  touch  or  approach  any  of  the  lower  classes. 
As  Linshoten  observes, “  when  they  are  once  touched 
by  any  polayans  or  by  any  other  nation  except 
Nayros,  they  must  (before  they  eat  or  converse  with 
the  Nayros)  wash  and  clean  their  bodies  with  great 
ceremonies  and  superstitions.”  For  this  purpose  he 
says  “  in  every  place  where  they  dwell,  they  have  a 
pit  or  well  digged,  wherein  they  hold  water,  which 
standeth  openly  in  the  wky,  where  every  man  passeth 
by,  wherein  every  morning  when  they  rise  they  wash 
themselves  *  *  *.  It  must  be  in  a  place  where  the 
water  standeth  in  pit  or  well,  and  by  their  Brahmanes 
conjured  with  many  words  and  ceremonies,  otherwise 
it  were  of  no  virtue  but  wholly  unprofitable.” 

An  oil  bath  is  a  peculiar  feature  of  a  Nsyar’s  daily 
life.  Those  who  can  afford  it  anoint  their  bodies  and 
heads  with  oil  of  sesamum  every  day.  Some  have 
medicated  oils  of  great  value  for  their  heads  known 
as  Kschiya  EniiS,  literally  boiled  oil,  and  Kolampu  for 
their  bodies.  Many  use  these  on  alternate  days,  while 
the  great  majority  anoint  their  bodies  twice  a  week  on 
Wednesdays  and  Saturdays.  After  anointing,  they 
wash  themselves  and  rub  their  skin  with  a  plant  called 
Incha  (Acacia  Intsia)  the  rind  of  which  has  alkaline 
properties  which  remove  all  filth  and  the  oil.  For 
washing  off  the  oil  on  their  head,  they  use  the  leaves  of 
various  plants,  herbs  and  creepers  which  possess  the 
property.  This  ablution  and  friction  strengthen  the 
body  and  at  the  same  time  prevent  too  violent  pers¬ 
piration. 

The  children  also  are  bathed  in  the  morning  and 
taken  to  the  temple  for  worship,  and,  after  they  have 
had  their  Kanjh  are  either  sent  to  the  nearest  pyal 
school,  or  are  taught  by  an  Asan  or  tutor  employed 
for  the  purpose  in  their  houses.  The  course  of  instruc¬ 
tion  takes  them  through  the  alphabets,  elementary 
grammar,  arithmetic,  and  a  little  Sanskrit.  Those  who 


In  trod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  237 

are  inclined  to  pursue  the  higher  course  of  Sanskrit 
will  have  to  look  for  it  elsewhere.  In  rich  families, 
there  will  be  provision  made  for  advanced  studies  too. 
After  the  mid-day  meal,  the  males,  especially  the  elders, 
retire  for  a  short  siesta.  The  Karanavar  would,  after 
the  siesta  is  over,  take  his  seat  at  the  portico  or 
Pumukham  of  the  house  and  the  Anandravers  or 
juniors  would  respectfully  stand  in  his  presence.  No 
junior  takes  his  seat  before  his  senior.  The  family 
affairs  are  here  discussed  and  audience  given  to  tenants 
who  have  business  to  transact.  The  day’s  business 
being  over,  they  separate,  each  wending  his  way.  The 
women,  after  their  mid-day  meal  is  finished,  employ 
themselves  in  domestic  matters ;  the  younger  ones 
spending  their  time  in  singing  and  dancing  (Kaikottik- 
kaii)  or  reading  the  vernacular  renderings  of  the 
PurS^Ss  such  as  the  Bhagavafam,  Ramsyanam,  BharaL 
Jam,  etc.  Towards  evening,  the  house  is  once  more 
swept  clean  and  sprinkled  with  cowdung  and  water;  so 
are  the  yards.  The  lamps  are  cleaned  and  lit,  and  the 
women  and  children  wash  themselves  in  the  tank  and 
proceed  to  the  temple  in  gay  attire.  On  their  return, 
the  children  sit  in  front  of  the  lighted  lamp  along  with 
the  elderly  women,  and  go  on  reciting  prayers  for  an 
hour  or.  so.  Then  follows  the  reading  of  the  RamSya$a 
or  Bhagavata  in  Malayalam.  This  is  read  out  in  a  long- 
drawn,  loud,  musical  tone,  and  the  children  follow  the 
lead  m  turn.  When  this  is  over,  the  children  take 
their  supper,  and  retire  to  rest.  By  this  time  the  males 
will  have,  after  their  ablutions,  come  ready  for  their 
supper,  and  they  are  served.  Supper  over,  the  Kara- 
$avar  calls  the  servants  of  the  house  and  orders  them 
to  sec  that  the  outer  doors  of  the  house  are  shut  and 
secured,  and  enjoins  on  them  the  necessity  to  keep  a 
watchful  eye  during  the  night.  By  this  time  a  servant 
with  a  light,  generally  a  torch  made  of  dried  cocoanut 
leaves,  will  be  ready  to  accompany  the  Ksrariavar 
to  his  wife’s  house,  which,  under  ordinary  cir¬ 
cumstances,  is  situated  not  far  away.  Before  leaving, 


238  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

the  Ksraijavar  will  see  that  the  Anandaravars  get  his 
orders  as  to  what  they  are  to  do  the  next  day.  The 
Anandaravars,  one  by  one,  then  leave  the  house,  each 
taking  a  light,  to  go  to  his  wife’s  house.  Meanwhile, 
the  husbands  of  the  women  of  the  house  will  be  gradual¬ 
ly  dropping  in.  By  10  p.  m.  the  whole  house  would 
have  taken  supper,  and  retired  to  rest. 

The  Nayars,  both  men  and  women,  have  the  in¬ 
veterate  habit  of  chewing  betel.  The  Ksraj^avars  of 
the  old  school  carry  about  them,  wherever  they  go, 
their  chellam  or  betel-box  made  sometimes  of  silver 
but^  generally  of  bell-metal.  The  habit  of  chewing 
betel  is  still  prevalent.  Though  it  colours  the  teeth, 
giving  to  them  a  dark,  reddish  hue,  the  betel  is  so  much 
relished  that  even  the  English  educated  Nsyar  feels  it 
difficult  to  withstand  its  allurements.  Nieuhoff  informs 
us  that  “all  the  Malabars  have  black  teeth,  occasioned 
by  the  continual  chewing  of  the  leaves  of  the  betel.** 
“A  few  fine  leaves  of  the  betel  vine  are  smeared  with 
chunnam  rolled  up  and  put  into  the  mouth  first.  Then 
pieces  of  arecca  nut  sliced  with  a  knife  follow.  After 
these  are  slightly  masticated,  a  piece  of  tobacco  is  put 
in  and  the  whole  thing  is  chewed.  The  saliva  excited 
would  be  of  reddish  black  colour  and  is  spat  out.  Cam¬ 
phor  and  other  aromatic  ingredients  are  also  added  at 
times.  Though  the  habit  of  chewing  betel  is  still  in 
the  ascendant,  great  care  is  taken  to  remove  the  colour 
caused  thereby  by  constantly  cleaning  the  teeth.  Every 
morning,  as  a  part  of  the  ablutions  of  the  day,  the  teeth 
and  tongue  are  cleaned.  The  material  for  cleaning 
the  teeth  is  usually  burnt  husk  of  paddy,  which  is  a 
fine  cleanser.  After  cleaning  with  this,  the  leaves  of 
the  mango  tree  rolled  up  are  sometimes  used  in  the 
place  of  a  brush  and  finally  a  short  piece  of  the  stock  of 
the  cocoanut  tree  on  which  the  flower  grows.  The 
tongue  is  cleaned  with  the  midrib  of  the  cocoanut  leaf 
split  into  two  so  as  to  give  it  a  sharp  edge. 

Village  life.  In  the  account  of  the  National  As¬ 
semblies  of  Malabar,  an  attempt  has  been  made  to 


In  trod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  239 

portray  the  village  organisation  of  the  Nsyars.  A 
Nsyar  village  or  Tara  consists  of  a  number  of  houses 
situated,  not  in  a  line  on  both  sides  of  a  street  as  on 
the  East  Coast,  but  lying  detached  in  the  midst  of 
gardens.  In  Johnson’s  Relations  of  the  Famous 
Kingdoms  in  the  World  (4  to  i6n)weread,  “They 
(the  Nairs)  inhabit  no  towns,  but  dwell  in  houses 
made  of  earth  environed  with  hedges  and  woods,  and 
their  ways  as  intricate  as  into  a  labyrinth”.  Though 
some  early  British  administrators  asserted  that  the 
Hindu  village  did  not  exist  in  Malabar,  Sir  Thomas 
Munro  seems  to  have  felt,  and  felt  truly,  that  this 
could  not  have  been  the  real  state  of  things  in  a  Hindu 
State.  His  enquiries  at  the  spot  led  him  to  conclude 
that  Malabar  was  “in  the  earliest  times  divided  like  the 
other  provinces  of  India  into  districts  and  villages,  the 
limits  of  which,  but  more  specially  of  the  villages, 
remain  unchanged  to  this  day.”1  These  villages 
had  their  own  organization  for  agrarian,  social,  civil 
and  administrative  purposes.'  They  were  in  fact 
miniature  republics  so  far  as  their  civil  life  was  con¬ 
cerned.  Of  course,  there  was  the  greater  division  of  the 
country  into  Desams  and  Nads  under  Desavafies  and 
ftstuvSlies  for  political  purposes.  The  rights  and 
function  of  these  officers  are  noticed  elsewhere. 

The  villages  were  self-contained.  There  was  the 
headman  or  A§2n  or  PramSni.  etc.,  and  the  hereditary 
village  servants  or  Chgru  Jenmakar,  the  village  Pancha- 
yats  or  Kuttams,  the  Ksval  or  village  Police  with  the 
village  watchman  or  Kavalkar.  Each  of  them  had  its 
functions  well  defined,  with  its  rights  and  privileges. 
Fees  in  grain  was  allotted  to  each  functionary  as  re¬ 
muneration  for  the  work  he  had  to  do. 

The  village  organisation  was  based  on  a  system  of 
mutual  help,  each  household  helping  the  other  in  the 
general  routine  of  life  with  money  and  labour.  Thus, 
at  the  thatching  season,  a  householder  whose  house  has 
to  be  thatched  invites  the  other  householders  of  the 
village  on  the  day  previous  to  the  thaching,  he  having 

1.  Logan’s  Malabar,  p,  88. 


240  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

provided  himself  in  the  meanwhile  with  the  requisite 
quantity  of  cocoanut  tree  leaves  with  which  houses  in 
Malabar  are  generally  thatched.  The  villagers  assemble 
early  in  the  morning  at  the  house  to  be  thatched  and 
commence  work  under  the  direction  of  the  headman. 
The  owner  of  the  house  provides  them  with  chewing 
materials,  pan  supari,  chunnam  and  tobacco.  As  the 
sun  gets  hot,  the  workmen  leave  their  work  for  the 
time  and  are  supplied  with  rice  Kanji  with  suitable 
accompaniments  on  a  fairly  large  scale.  They  refresh 
themselves  with  these  and  rest  for  a  while  till  the  sun 
goes  down  and  the  heat  is  abated  when  they  resume 
work.  By  dusk  the  thatching  will  be  finished  and  the 
workmen  leave  to  the  nearest  tank  where  they  wash 
themselves  and  assemble  again  at  the  house  to  partake 
of  the  sumptuous  repast  prepared  for  them,  after  which 
they  leave  for  their  own  homes. 

The  members  of  the  village  help  each  other  at 
marriages,  funerals  and  other  ceremonies  with  funds  as 
well  as  labour.  At  marriages,  when  the  ceremony  is 
resolved  on,  the  AsSn  or  headman  of  the  village  is  in¬ 
formed  of  it.  He,  along  with  a  few  leading  men  of  the 
village,  go  to  the  house  at  which  it  is  to  be  celebrated 
and  prepares  a  list  of  things  wanted.  The  men  of  the 
village  lend  their  assistance  in  the  performance  of  the 
ceremony  at  all  its  stages  till  it  is  over  and  finally 
contribute  in  money  towards  its  expenses. 

In  the  case  of  funeral  ceremonies,  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  villagers  to  see  the  dead  body  cremated  and  they 
do  this  uninvited.  In  some  parts  the  articles  necessary 
for  the  celebration  of  the  sixteenth  day  ceremony  are 
wholly  contributed  by  the  men  of  the  village. 

Every  village  will  have  a  temple  of  its  own,  general¬ 
ly  a  Bhagavati  Ksvu,  where  special  ceremonies  such  as 
Mandalam  Pattu,  Bhadrakaii  Psttu,  Tiyyattu,  Mudi- 
y5t?t?u,  Tslappoli,  etc.,  are  celebrated  at  the  expense  of 
the  villagers.  The  headman  levies  from  each  house¬ 
holder  a  small  amount  annually,  known  as  Otffa  t  ri, 


KAVU:  A  TEMPLE  FOR  A  GODDESS. 


KAN  IAN  ASTROLOGERS. 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  241 

towards  a  common  fund  from  which  the  expenses  for 
common  ceremonies  at  the  village  temple  are  met. 
“  There  are  some  village  temples  exclusively  owned 
by  Nairs  where  all  the  Karakkars  (^villagers)  assemble 
on  special  occasions-  A  very  peculiar  socio-religious 
ceremony  performed  here  is  the  Kuttam.  This  is  a 
village  council,  held  at  the  beginning  of  every  month 
for  the  administration  of  the  communal  affairs  of  the 
caste,  though  at  the  present  day  (as  all  traces  of 
communal  life  has  been  or  in  the  course  of  being 
wiped  offj  a  sumptuous  feast  at  the  cost  of  each 
villager  in  rotation,  and  partaken  of  by  all  assembled, 
and  a  small  offering  to  temple,  are  all  that  remains  to 
commemorate  it.”  1 

In  some  cases  the  villagers  own  lands  in  common 
which  they  cultivate  in  rotation.  This  is  known  as 
0\i  pakarcha.  For  a  more  detailed  account  of  the 
village  organisation  and  its  functions,  reference  may  be 
made  to  the  account  given  of  National  Assemblies. 

The  Cheru  JenmakkSr  of  the  village  already 
mentioned  are  entitled  to  hereditary  rights  and 
perquisites  within  the  village’  They  are: — 

(1)  The  KaruySin  or  astrologer  who  has  to  be 
consulted  on  every  ceremonial  occasion  from  birth  to 
death,  to  cast  horoscopes,  and  to  find  M  uhur tarns  or 
auspicious  moments  for  the  performance  of  all  kinds 
of  ceremonies  or  feasts. 

(2)  The  ASari  or  carpenter. — lie  is  the 
architect  and  builder  of  temples  and  houses  in  the 
village.  He  presides  at  the  dedication  of  houses; 
presents  himself  with  his  handicraft  in  the  form  of  tops 
vessels,  bows  and  arrows,  etc.,  at  Onam  and  Vishu  at 
the  houses  of  prominent  villagers,  and  he  has  to  be 
given  grain  or  a  piece  of  doth.  At  the  annual  temple 
festival,  it  is  his  privilege  to  prepare  the  flag  staff  011 
which  the  temple  flag  is  hoisted  announcing  the 

1.  Castes  and  Tribes  of  South  India — Thurston. 


242  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

opening  of  the  festival.  The  carpenter  is  entitled  for 
this  service  to  certain  perquisites. 

(3)  The  TattSn  or  goldsmith  makes  the  Tali,  a 
small  piece  of  gold  ornament  in  the  form  of  the  leaf  of 
the  pipal  tree,  which  is  tied  round  the  neck  of  the  bride 
at  her  marriage.  He  too  is  entitled  to  certain  perqui¬ 
sites. 

(4)  The  Malayan  or  Conjuror. — His  services  are 
requisitioned  for  exorcism,  devil  feast,  etc. 

(5)  The  Veiut{£tan  or  washerman. — He  has  to 
wash  for  the  village  as  also  for  the  temple-  He  has 
to  newly  wash  for  the  temple  every  day  the  cloth  with 
which  the  idol  is  adorned  during  the  festival  days. 
He  is  entitled  to  get,  at  the  birthday  celebrations  of  the 
villagers,  prepared  rice  and  curries.  Again  when 
feasts  on  a  large  scale  are  held,  the  boiled  rice  that 
remain  in  the  Tata  or  place  where  it  is  stored,  after 
serving  the  guests,  is  his  perquisite.  He  has  also  to 
supply  matMfu  or  washed  cloth  to  the  Nsyars  on  cere¬ 
monial  occasions,, such  as  at  purificatory  bath  after  Pula 
or  pollution,  SrSddhas,  etc. 

(6)  The  V^lan,  who  is  a  low  class  washerman, 
does  not  wash  for  the  higher  castes.  But  his  women 
supply  cloth  washed  by  them  to  Nsyar  women  to  wear 
at  the  ceremonial  bath  after  the  monthly  periods.  These 
have  to  wear  the  cloth  while  bathing  in.  order  to  be 
purified.  It  is  the  Vglan  who  has  to  sing  certain 
songs  at  the  ceremonies  on  the  occasion  of  the  appearance 
of  the  first  menses.  Cloth  washed  by  him  has  to  be 
worn  to  cast  off  Pula  during  the  ceremonial  and  puri¬ 
ficatory  bath.  Pie  has  also  to  provide  the  villagers  with 
umbrellas  (Oiakkuta)  made  of  palmyra  leaves,  for  which 
he  will  be  paid  by  them. 

(7)  Viiakkattalavan,  or  barber.  He  has  to  shave 
the  villagers  and  is  entitled  to  perquisites  at  the  first 
shaving  or  tonsure  and  at  birthdays  when  the  rice  and 
viands  served  for  Gaijapaji  in  front  of  the  lamp  form 
his  perquisite.  It  is  the  barber  woman  who  acts  as 


■  mm 


VELANS’  DANCE. 


( To  face  p.  242 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  243 

accoucher  or  midwife  to  Nsyar  women  at  their  deli¬ 
very. 

(8)  The  Kusavan  or  the  potter. — He  has  to  supply 
the  villagers  with  pots  and  pans  as  also  Trkkakara 
Appan  or  conical  or  pyramidical  figures  for  puja 
during  the  0$am;  for  this  he  gets  rice  and  curry-stuffs 
from  each  household. 

(9)  To  the  above  may  be  added  the 
Eluttassan,  As5n  or  village  schoolmaster.  This  indi¬ 
vidual  need  not  necessarily  belong  to  any  particular 
caste.  He  may  be  a  Nsyar,  Kaniyan,  Panikkar  or  a 
Katupattan.  In  some  parts  and  especially  in  middle 
Kerala  and  in  the  north,  the  Eluttassans  generally 
belong  to  the  last  class.  The  term  Eluttassan  means 
‘father  of  letters’  or  ‘master  of  letters’,  and  his  calling 
is  peculiarly  popular  in  Malabar.  Every  village  will 

have  more  than  one  Eluttassan  with  schools  of  their 

»  » 

own,  while  families  capable  of  employing  one  keep  one 
for  themselves. 

In  Malabar,  the  education  of  the  children  both 
males  and  females  commence  very  early.  They  are 
initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  the  Malayalam  alphabet 
at  the  earliest  in  the  third  year  of  their  age  and  at  the 
latest  not  later  than  the  seventh  year.  For  this  cere¬ 
mony  an  auspicious  hour  is  fixed  by  the  village  astro- 
loger  generally  on  the  Vijayadasami  day  which  falls  on 
the  last  day  or. the  Navarstri  or  Saraswati  Puja  which 
comes  on  in  the  month  of  Kanni  (September — October) 
or  Tulam  (October — November).  That  day  is  peculiar¬ 
ly  favourable  for  the  purpose,  for  it  is  dedicated  to  Sara> 
swap,  the  goddess  of  learning.  The  occasion  is  known  as 
Vidyarambham  or  the  ‘beginning  of  learning'*  The 
village  schoolmaster  or  in  his  absence  any  other  quali¬ 
fied  man  is  invited  to  initiate  the  child  in  the  study  of 
the  alphabet.  After  the  Puja  to  Saraswati  is  over,  in  a 
conspicuous  part  of  the  house  will  be  placed  a  bell-metal 
plate  with  a  quantity  of  rice  spread  on  it  with  alighted 
lamp  on  each  side  of  it  along  with  a  measure  of  paddy 
and  rice.  The  child  to  be  initiated  is  seated  in  front  of 


244  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

the  plate  facing  towards  the  east.  Ga^apati  is  invoked 

___  -  •• 

and  offerings  made  to  the  God.  The  AS2n  or  Elu- 
tfassan  sits  by  the  child  and,  after  offering  prayers  to 
God,  traces  on  the  child’s  tongue  with  a  gold  coin, 
generally  a  Vjrarsyan  Fanam,  the  divine  invocation 
Hari — Sree — Ganapathaye — Nani  ah*  After  this,  the 
teacher  takes  hold  of  the  child’s  right  hand  and  makes 
the  child  write  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  on  the  rice  in 
the  plate.  A  feast  is  given  to  friends  and  relatives 
invited  and  the  ceremony  closes.  This  ceremony  is 
known  also  as  Eluttinu  Iruttal,  i.  e.}  sitting  to  be 
initiated  into  letters. 

Thenceforth  the  child  is  either  taught  at  home  or 
sent  to  one  of  the  village  schools.  These  institutions 
are  held  in  low,  long  thatched  sheds  put  up  in  an  open 
space  with  little  or  no  furniture.  The  children  squat 
on  the  bare  floor  in  a  line  with  milk-white  sand  spread 
before  them  on  which  they  trace  the  letters  of  the  alphabet 
repeating  them  loud  as  they  go  on.  The  As2n  seated 
at  one  end  in  a  raised  position  supervises  the  work. 
Lessons  are  set  to  advanced  children  the  previous 
evening  which  they  learn  by  heart  and  they  repeat 
them  in  turn  to  the  teacher.  The  lessons  are  written  on 
Olas  or  palmyra  leaves  with  an  iron  style,  and  the  leaves 
are  strung  together  on  a  thread.  The  students  generally 
assemble  at  seven  o’  clock  in  the  morning  and  are  sent 
home  at  10,  to  assemble  again  at  two  in  the  afternoon. 
The  lessons  are  kept  up  till  5.  The  evening  lessons  of 
the  advanced  students  consist  in  the  reading  ot  the 
Malay alam  rendering  of  the  PurSijas,  specially  of  the 
R5m2ya$a.  Of  Prose  studies  there  are  none,  for  the 
reason  that  the  language  can  boast  of  no  Prose  liter¬ 
ature  except  what  is  of  very  recent  growth.  In 
the  evening  the  students  had  home-work  to  do  which 
:onsisted  in  repeating  the  names  of  the  goddesses 
and  gods,  in  reciting  Klr^anams  or  praises  in  verse 
of  the  several  deities  of  the  Hindu  Pantheon  and  in 
conning  multiplication  tables,  etc.  The  Malayalam  '•an 


introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTfcS  215 

boast  o£  a  splendid  hymology. 

Discipline  is  rigorously  maintained  in  schools 
and  the  AsSn  is  a  terror  to  the  students.  These 
have  to  march  to  the  school  in  single  or  double 
file,  with  hands  folded  crossing  the  breast,  holding  the 
bundle  of  cadjans  or.  which  their  lessons  are  inscribed 
in  their  arm-pits  and  with  a  cocoanut  shell  containing 
sand  slung  to  their  shoulder.  They  are  enjoined  to 
keep  silence  on  the  road  and  march  on  directly  to  the 
school.  They  go  back  after  school  hours  in  the  same 
way.  The  As2n  is  expected  to  have  an  eye  over  their 
general  conduct  also.  The  punishments  he  awards  t) 
delinquents  are  often  severe.  The  students  are  made 
to  stand  with  their  legs  crossed,  to  hold  their  ears  with 
their  hands  crossed  on  the  breast  so  that  the  right  ear 
has  to  be  held  by  the  left  hand  and  the  left  ear  by  the 
right.  In  this  position  they  are  ordered  to  bow  down, 
so  that  the  knees  of  their  hands  may  touch  the  ground. 
This  sort  of  bowing  (Mai.  Ettam)  has  to  be  undergone 
often  a  hundred  or  thousand  times  if  not  more.  Again 
the  rod  is  freely  used  and  never  spared;  sometimes  the 
point  of  the  iron  style  is  employed  as  a  goad.  Knocks 
are  not  seldom  given  on  the  finger  joints  with  the  iron 
style.  Like  his  English  prototype  of  old,  Dickens’ 
Squeers,  the  Asan  employs  his  pupils  to  do  all  sorts' of 
work  for  him.  The  students  wearied  by  all  this  trouble 
sometimes  skulk,  play  the  truant  and  do  not  hesitate 
even  to  leave  the  village. 

The  studies  are  stopped  for  about  12  days  in  the 
month  in  two  inst  d  ents  known  as  Anadhyaya  com¬ 
mencing  with  PwadaSi  or  the  12th  day  after  the  waxing 
or  the  waning  moon.  Dwadasi  and  the  day  following 
are  only  half  holidays  to  cnaole  the  students  to  revise 
their  old  lessons.  The  period  of  study  is  known  as 
Swadhyayam. 

The  course  of  study  consists  first  in  writing  on 
sand  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  and  learning  them. 
After  this  the  student  is  made  to  write  short  sentences 


245  LETTERS  FROM  MALaBaR  [L.  20 

on  Ula  with  the  iron  style.  He  is  then  made  to  com¬ 
mit  to  memory  short  verses  (Ashtakams)  in  praise  of 
Ga^apati,  Saraswati,  Rsma,  Krshna,  etc.  Simple 
lessons  in  arithmetic  are  added  on,  specially  the  multi¬ 
plication  tables.  All  this  takes  up  about  two  years’ 
time,  and,  when  the  student  is  found  to  be  well  grounded 
in  the  three  R’s,  he  goes  in  for  higher  branches  as  a 
stepping  stone  to  the  study  of  Sanskrit. 

The  girls  undergo  the  same  course  of  instruction 
as  the  boys.  They  are  further  taught  short  poems 
inculcating  moral  principles.  They  learn  SllSvati 
PSttu,  Pattu  Vrttam,  PatififiSlu  Vrttam. 

The  advanced  courses  for  boys  and  girls  consisted 
in  the  study  of  Kavyams,  Alamkaram  and  Natakams 
in  Sanskrit.  Some  studied  any  of  the  Sastras  too,  such 
as  astronomy,  logic,  grammar  and  2yurv5da. 
Girls  used  to  specialise  in  music,  Irupattuftalu 
V^tam,  etc.  In  addition  to  these,  they  are 
taught  to  recite  Malayalam  poetic  renderings  of  the 
PurSirias  such  as  the  Ramayana  and  the  Mahabharata. 
They  are  also  taught  at  home  TiruvStira  Kaii  or 
Kykottikali,  a  kind  of  dance  with  the  clapping  of  hands 
to  the  accompaniment  of  appropriate  songs.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  modern  experts  in  physical  culture,  this 
is  one  of  the  best  forms  of  bodily  exercise  suited  for 
females.  The  village  schoolmaster  is  generally  remu¬ 
nerated  in  kind.  He  gets  from  each  house  a  quantity 
of  paddy  per  mensem  or  per  annum  as  he  desires. 
Otherwise,  on  the  pvada$i  day  when  the  fortnightly 
holidays  commence,  each  student  pays  him  an  anna  or 
two.  He  receives  presents  of  cloths  on  Oftam  and 
Vishu  days  with  a  Rupee  or  two  added  The  annual 
celebration  of  the  Navaratri  also  brings  him  presents. 
On  the  last  day  of  the  festival,  Vijayadasami,  the  pupils 
have  to  renew  their  lessons.  The  Alan’s  pupils,  past 
and  present,  present  themselves  before  him,  and  give 
him  handsome  gifts  after  prostrating  at  his  feet.  This 
is  known  as  Guru  Dakshi^a. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


24? 


Introd.] 

We  have  a  good  account  of  Education  in  Malabar 
in  the  eighteenth  century  by  Fra  Bartolomeo  as  he 
found  it  then: — 

“The  education  of  youth  in  India  is  much  simpler, 
and  not  near  so  expensive  as  in  Europe.  The  children 
assemble  half  naked  under  the  shade  of  a  cocoanut  tree; 
place  themselves  in  rows  on  the  ground,  and  trace  out 
on  the  sand,  with  the  forefinger  of  the  right  hand,  the 
elements  of  their  alphabet,  and  then  smooth  it  with  the 
left1  when  they  wish  to  trace  out  other  characters.  The 
writing-master,  called  Agian,  or  Eluttacien,  who 
stations  himself  opposite  to  his  pupils,  examines  what 
they  have  done;  points  out  their  faults;  and  shews  them 
how  to  correct  them.  At  first,  he  attends  them  stand¬ 
ing;  but  when  the  young  people  have  acquired  some 
readiness  in  writing,  he  places  himself  cross 
legged  on  a  tyger‘s  or  deer’s  skin,  or  even  on  a  mat 
made  of  the  leaves  of  the  cocoanut  tree,  or  wild  ananas, 
which  is  called  Kaida’  (The  Kaida  of  Rheede  Hort. 
Malab.  as  well  as  the  Keuraathrodaetylus,  and  the 
Pandanus  odoratif  fima  is  not  a  wild  ananas,  but  a  plant, 
the  male  flowers  of  which  have  a  farina  of  an  exceedingly 
agreeable  smell.  In  Arabia  and  India  people  bestrew 
their  heads  with  it,  as  we  do  ours  wdth  perfumed 
powder.  F.) ,  plated  together.  This  method  of  teaching 
writing  was  introduced  into  India  two  hundred  years 
before  the  birth  of  Christ,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  Megasthenes,  and  still  continues  to  be  practised. 
No  people,  perhaps,  on  earth  have  adhered  so  much  to 
their  ancient  usages  and  customs  as  the  Indians. 

“A  schoolmaster  in  Malabar  receives  every  two 
months,  from  each  of  his  pupils,  for  the  instruction 
given  them,  two  Fanom  or  Panam.  Some  do  not  pay 
in  money,  but  give  him  a  certain  quantity  of  rice,  so 
that  this  expense  becomes  very  easy  to  the  parents. 
There  are  some  teachers  who  instruct  children  wdthout 
any  fee,  and  are  paid  by  the  overseers  of  the  temple,  or 
by  the  chief  of  the  caste.  When  the  pupils  have  made 

i.  This  is  not  correct.  It  is  done  by  the  ri^ht  hand  itself. 


248 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  2©. 

tolerable  progress  in  writing,  they  are  admitted  into 
certain  schools,  called  Etupalii.*  vhere  they  begin  to 
write  on  palm  leaves(Pana), which,  when  several  of  them 
are  stitched  together,  and  fastened  between  two  boards, 
form  a  Grantha,  that  is,  an  India  i  book.  If  such  a 
book  be  written  upon  with  an  iron  style,  it  is  called 
Granthavari,  or  Lakya,  that  is,  writing,  to  distinguish 
it  from  Alakya,  which  is  something  not  written. 

“When  the  Guru,  or  teacher,  enters  the  school, 
he  is  always  received  with  the  utmost  reverence  and 
respect.  His  pupils  must  throw  themselves  down  at 
full  length  before  him;  place  their  right  hand  on  their 
mouth,  and  not  venture  to  speak  a  single  word  until  he 
gives  them  express  permission.  Those  who  talk  and 
prate  contrary  to  the  prohibition  of  their  master  are 
expelled  the  school,  as  boys  who  cannot  restrain  their 
tongue,  and  who  are  consequently  unfit  for  the 
study  of  philosophy.  By  these  means  the  preceptor 
always  receives  that  respect  which  is  due  to 
him;  the  pupils  are  obedient,  and  seldom  offend 
against  rules  which  are  so  carefully  inculcated.  The 
chief  branches  taught  by  the  Guru  are:  ist,  the  princi¬ 
ples  of  writing  and  accompts:  2nd,  the  Samscred 
grammar,  which  contains  the  declensions  and  conjuga¬ 
tions;  in  Malabar  it  is  called  Sidharuba;  but,  in 
Bengal,  Sarasvada,  or  the  art  of  speaking  with  elegance: 
3rd,  the  second  part  of  this  grammar,  which  contains 
the  syntax,  or  the  book  Vyagarana:  4th,  the  Amarasinha, 
or  Brahmanic  dictionary-”  2 

This  system  of  education,  specially  of  primary 
education,  continued  in  Malabar  till  the  disruption  of 
society  caused  by  the  commotions  consequent  on  the 
invasions  of  Hyder  and  Tippu.  The  State  took  no 
part  in  the  education  of  children  till  then.  For  some 
time  after  Tippu’s  expulsion  from  Malabar 
everything  was  in  confusion  till  the  British  established  - 
their  supremacy  on  the  coast.  The  States  of  Travan- 
core  and  Cochin  soon  came  under  British  dominion 

1.  Eluttupalli — a  pyal  school. 

Pages  261— '263. 


2. 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

and  the  administration  of  those  States  began  to  be 
improved  on  the  lines  adopted  in  the  territories  directly 
under  the  rule  of  the  Hon.  East  India  Company* 
The  education  of  the  youths  of  the  country  attracted  the 
early  attention  of  the  States.  Formerly  Nsyar  youths, 
after  undergoing  their  primary  education  in  the  village 
schools  as  already  sketched,  either  passed  on  to  the 
Kalaries  for  being  trained  in  gymnastics  and  the  use  of 
arms,  or  took  to  the  study  of  Sanskrit  under  competent 
teachers.  But  the  pacification  of  the  country  and  the 
restoration  of  order  under  the  protecting  aegis  of  the 

Pax  Britannica  rendered  the  exercise  of  arms  unne- 

/  .  s ». 

cessary,  and  left  a  large  number  of  youths  with  no  work 
to  do.  The  village  schools  had  also  disappeared  for  some 
time  with  the  result  that  the  people  came  to  be  illiterate. 
At  last,  in  the  year  993  M.  E.  (i8fS  A.  D.)  the  States 
of  Travancore  and  Cochin  resolved,  under  the  auspices 
of  Col.  J.  Munro,  the  then  British  Resident  and  Diwan, 
to  introduce  a  system  of  free  compulsory  education 
under  State  control.  Schools  were  established  in  all  the 
villages,  and  guardians  of  children  between  the  ages  of 
5  and  10  were  enjoined  on  pain  of  punishment  to  send 
them  to  schools  to  be  instructed  in  reading,  writing,  arith¬ 
metic,  astronomy  and  poetry.  In  course  of  time,  this 
system  was  slowly  dropped  along  with  many  other  use¬ 
ful  institutions. 

Occupations  and  morals •  So  early  as  in  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  14th  century,  Friar  Jordanus  has  observed 
that  the  people  “of  this  India”  referring  to  the  west 
coast,  “are  true  in  speech  and  eminent  in  justice”.  Ibn 
Batuta  had  also  noticed  the  stern  justice  of  the  king  of 
Quilon.  Some  time  after  Jordanus,  Rabbi  Benjamin 
has  remarked  that  the  nation  is  quite  trustworthy  in 
matters  of  trade. 1  Nieuhoff,  writing  half  a  century 
after,  between  the  years  1653  and  1670,  observes, 
“They  are  not  much  inclined  to  vice,  sodomy,  and 
incest;  nay,  the  boys  and  girls  tho’  they  converse  to¬ 
gether  daily  and  that  without  cloths,  you  shall  seldom 

i,  Asher ,  p.  138. 


AF 


250  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

observe  in  them  either  in  word  or  in  action  anything 
that  savours  of  uncleanliness”.  Similarly,  while  Forbes, 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  18th  century,  after  having  lived 
at  Anjengo  for  some  time,  and  having  had  ample  op¬ 
portunity  to  form  a  correct  opinion,  observes  of  the 
Nsyars  that  they  are  “seldom  guilty  of  debaucheries,” 
and  are  “not  subject  to  many  of  those  passions  which 
enslave  the  civilised  Europeans,”  Walter  Hamilton 
writing,  in  the  early  part  of  the  first  half  of  the  19th 
century,  with  reference  to  the  people  of  Travancore, 
tells  us,  on  the  authority  of  two  successive  British 
Residents,  that  they  are  a  people  “abandoned  to  vice 
and  corruption,”  and  that  “in  no  part  of  the  world,  are 
men  to  be  found  to  whose  habits  and  affections  the 
practice  of  vice,  through  all  its  debasing,  loathsome,  and 
hideous  gradations  seems  so  familiar.”  1  Hard  words 
these!  But  Hamilton  does  not  stop  to  enquire  how  far  the 
vision  of  these  two  successive  British  Residents  had  been 
blurred  by  the  political  events  that  had  recently 
transpired  in  Travancore,  one  of  the  incidents  being 
the  open  and  unconcealed  attempt  to  murder  one  of 
these  Residents,  the  inhuman  punishment  meted  out 
to  which  by  the  local  British  authorities  called  forth 
the  strongest  condemnation  of  the  Governor-General 
Lord  Minto.  Referring  to  the  "passages  quoted  above 
from  Friar  Jordanus  and  the  Rabbi  Benjamin,  Col. 
Yule  remarks:  “There  are  many  other  passages  of 
this  kind.  It  is  curious,  however,  that  with  reference 
to  the  very  district  of  Travancore  which  now  in¬ 
cludes  Quilon  where  the  Bishop’s  experience  must 
have  chiefly  lain,  two  English  Residents  have  borne 
testimony  lamentably  opposed  to  his  account  of  the 
character  of  the  people  in  former  times.”  The 
gallant  Colonel  prefaces  the  above  comment  by  an 
observation  which,  perhaps,  supplies  a  satisfactory 
explanation  for  the  change  in  the  character  of  the  people. 
He  says  referring  to  Jordanus’  observation,  “This  is  a 
remarkable  testimony  to  the  character  of  the  Hindoos 
1,  Deser,  Hindoostan,  Vol.  II,  315. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  25l 

when  yet  uninjured  by  foreign  domination  or  much 
foreign  in  ter  course,  ’  ’ 1 

Both  Linschoten  and  Nieuhoff  refer  to  the  revenge¬ 
ful  character  of  the  Nsyars.  The  former  says,  “They 
are  also  very  full  of  revenge,  so  that  whomsoever,  they 
fight  against  their  enemies  either  by  water  or  land, 
and  that  they  chance  to  be  thrust  into  the  body  with  a 
pike,  they  are  not  presently  therewith  content 
to  lie  down,  but  if  they  cannot  speedily  pluck  the  pike 
forth,  they  will  not  spare  to  pull  forth  with  both  their 
hands  and  draw  it  through  their  bodies,  therewith  to 
set  upon  them  that  gave  them  the  wounds,  and  to  be 
revenged  on  them”.  Referring  to  the  Amucos,  Nieu¬ 
hoff  says,  “They  oblige  themselves,  by  most  direful 
imprecations  against  themselves  and  their  families, 
calling  heaven  to  witness  that  they  will  revenge  certain 
injuries  done  to  their  friends  or  patrons,  which  they 
certainly  pursue  with  so  much  intrepidity  that  they 
stop  neither  at  fire  nor  sword  to  take  vengeance  of  the 
death  of  their -masters,  but  like  madmen  run  upon  the 
point  of  their  enemies’  swords,  which  make  them  be 
generally  dreaded  by  all.” 

Nieuhoff’s  account  or  the  Nayars  is  scarcely  com¬ 
plimentary.  “Very  bold  and  brave  they  are,”  says  he, 
“nevertheless  very  civil  and  meek  in  their  conversation, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  country;  notwithstanding 
which  they  are  mightily  addicted  to  robbing  upon  the 
high  way  and  will  kill  the  travellers  unawares,  unless 
they  be  well  upon  their  guard.”  He  adds  that  on  this 
account  the  Mahomedans  dwelling  in  the  country  take 
along  with  them  while  travelling  convoys  or  guards^of 
Nayars  for  protection.  Nieuhoff’s  testimony  is  that  the 
Nsyars  are  “  extremely  covetous  and  will  venture  at 
anything  for  a  small  sum.”  He  describes  them  as  “a 
very  haughty”  race,  pretending  “to  dispute  the  rank 
with  the  Portuguese  which  occasioned  .no  small  distur¬ 
bance.”  They  are  “strict  observers  of  the  times, 
which  are  neglected  by  the  common  people,  for  they 

i.  Col.  Yule’s  Note  to  pata  26  Chap.  IV,  7he  Wonders  of 
the  East , 


252  LETTERS  FROM  MALA  EAR  [L.  2c. 

will  not  converse  with  any  of  the  inferior  orders, 
except  the  Brahmans.  They  scarce  even  laugh,  and 
that  not  but  upon  extraordinary  occasions;  and  if  they 
see  others  laugh,  they  will  look  downward.”  Lins- 
choten  speaks  of  them  as  “verie  arrogant  and  proud.” 
Sonnerat,  in  1774  says,  “they  a, re  besides  known  by  their 
insolent  haughtiness.’’1  Buchanan  observes,  “their  sub- 
mission  to  their  superiors  was  great  but  they  exacted 
deference  from  those  under  them  with  a  cruelty  and 
arrogance  rarely  practised  but  among  Hindus  in  their 
state  of  independence.”  But  all  this  is  now  past  history. 
A  concatenation  of  circumstances,  has,  within  the  course 
of  a  few  centuries,  brought  about  a  thorough  change 
in  the  character  of  the  people,  and  we  shall  have 
occasion  later  on  to  consider  the  national  character¬ 
istics  of  the  present  Nayars. 

Festivals .  The  chief  festivals  of  the  Nsyars  are  the 
Onam,  Vi§hu  and  TiruvStira,  which  are  all  described 
elsewhere.  There  are  of  course  many  other  festivals 
of  minor  importance  which  do  not  call  for  notice. 
Nieuhoff  speaks  of  a  strange  feast.  He  says,  “The 
Brahmans  have,  under  pretence  of  a  religious  worship, 
introduced  a  feast,  which  furnishes  them  with  a  certain 
opportunity  of  being,  revenged  of  their  enemies.  It  is 
a  custom  among  the  Malabar  Kings  once  every  year 
viz.,  at  the  time  of  the  new  moon  in  October,  to 
remember  the  blessings  they  suppose  they  have 
received  from  their  idols,  by  a  solemn  sacrifice, 
which  is  performed  by  setting  certain  houses  on  fire 
such  as  are  appointed  by  the  Brahmans.  This  is  com¬ 
monly  performed  in  the  night  time,  without  the  least 
forewarning  given,  so  that  sometimes  not  only  the  house, 
but  also  the  inhabitants  with  all  their  goods  are  burnt, 
nobody  daring  to  quench  the  flame.  This  they  call  the 
sacrifice  of  fire  and  blood”.  There  is  no  trace  at  pre¬ 
sent  of  any  such  festival,  and  it  is  possible  that 
the  Dutch  Captain  has  mistaken  some  annual  bonfire 
for  the  festival  described  by  him. 

j  .  V oyage  to  the  East  Indies ,  1 7  74-“  1 78 1 . 


NAYARS  TUNING  THEIR  BOWSTRINGS  BEFORE  THEY  PLAY 
ON  THEM  DURING  THE  ON  AM  FFSTIVAL. 


In  trod,  |  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  253 

Religion*  The  religion  of  the  Nsyars  will  be 
found  discussed  elsewhere,  and  need  not  detain  us 
here. 

Ceremonies .  Marriage — Marriage  among  the  fol¬ 
lowers  of  MarumakkaftSyam  Law  of  succession  may 
mean  either  what  is  called  Tali  Kettu  Kallya^am,  which 
is  a  mere  formal  ceremonial,  or  Sambandham,  which 
latter  alone  creates  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife 
between  the  parties.  While  the  former  is  an  essential 
ceremony  with  females,  the  males  have  no  correspond¬ 
ing  ceremonial. 

The  details  of  the  ceremony  of  Tali  Kettu  KallyS- 
$am  vary  in  different  localities,  though  in  essence  they 
agree.  It  is  needless  to  refer  to  the  details  as  they 
exist  in  Malabar,  Cochin  and  Travancore  separately. 
The  Report  of  the  Malabar  Marriage  Commission  has 
embodied  in  it  a  correct  description  of  the  ceremony  as 
it  obtains  in  the  British  Districts  of  North  and  South 
Malabar,  and  the  Census  Reports  of  Travancore  and 
of  Cochin  give  us  a  description  of  it  as  it  is  observed  in 
the  Native  States.  In  effect  it  is  an  imitation  of  the 
marriage  ceremony  of  the  Naipbufiris  with  the  religious 
portions,  such  as  the  recital  of  vedic  texts,  performance 
of  homos  or  sacrifices,  etc.,  omitted. 

It  is  held  essential  that  the  ceremony  should  be 
gone  through  before  the  girl  attains  puberty,  but  in 
1  practice  this  is  not  always  observed.  The  ages 
7-9-1 1,  odd  numbers  as  usual,  are  considered  auspi¬ 
cious.  A  number  of  girls  may  go  through  the  ceremony 
at  the  same  time,  and  obvious  considerations  of  economy 
induce  even  infants  at  their  mother’s  breasts  to  be  pro¬ 
duced  to  go  through  the  innocent  ordeal.  The  same 
individual  may  act  as  the  pseudo-husband  to  a  number 
of  girls  at  the  same  time  or  in  succession.  He  has  only 
to  wash  his  hands  after  tying  the  tali  round  the  neck  of 
one  girl  and  before  doing  the  same  with  another  !  With 
some  the  person  tying  the  tali  is  an  Eijangan  or  clans¬ 
man,  with  others  a  Tirupad  or  K§he{riya,  a  Necjunga# 


254 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 

or  Ssmanta,  or  an  Arva  Pattar,  ‘  or  what  not.  Even 
the  mother  may  do  and  has  done  this  to  her 
daughter. 

The  ceremony  opens  with  the  fixing  of  a  post  for 
the  pandal  or  shed  in  which  the  KallySnam  (marriage) 
is  to  be  celebrated.  This  is  known  as  the  Polutuni- 
tuka,  and  is  done  at  an  auspicious  hour  prescribed  by 
the  village  astrologer,  and  Ts  followed  by  Polune) 
Pulunguka,  or  the  boiling  of  paddy  for  the  ceremony. 
To  the  first  ceremony  in  particular,  the  male  members 
of  the  village  are  invited,  and  treated  to  a  sumptuous 
feast,  followed  by  the  distribution  of  the  inevitable  Pan 
Suparu  If  the  tsli-tier  is  not  an  Eriangan,  he  is  brought 
in  procession,  performs  his  office,  receives  some  remu¬ 
neration,  and  is  courteously  dismissed.  But  if  he  is  an 
E^angan,  his  horoscope  has  to  be  compared  with  that 
of  his  proposed  pseudo-bride,  and  be  found  to  agree. 

The  marriage  itself  begins  with  the  Ashtamanga- 
lyam  (a  procession  to  the  marriage  pandal  with  the 
eight  auspicious  things),  and  Pattiniruttal  (seating  for 
song)  at  the  latter  of  which  a  BfShmijji,  not  a  Brahman 
woman,  but  a  Pushpini,  i.e.-,  an  Ampalavasi  woman  of 
the  NaippiySr  caste,  sings  songs  based  on  Puranic  texts, 
an  account  of  the  Subhadra-Vivsham  or  the  marriage 
of  Arjuna  with  Subhadra  being  the  most  popular.  On 
the  first  day,  before  the  girl  takes  her  seat  for  Brahinijji 
Pattu,  she  is  bathed,  clothed  in  rich  stuff,  and 
decked  with  jewels.  Hence  forward  she  is 
provided  with  a  separate  room,  where  she  sits 
aloof,  being  one  who  has  to  undergo  the  ceremony. 
In  some  parts  a  string  is  tied  to  her  left  arm  as  a  sym¬ 
bol  indicating  that  she  had  resolved  on  a  particular 
act.  This  is  called  Kappu  Kettuka.  The  girls,  with 
other  female  members  of  the  family  to  attend  on  them, 
come  out  in  procession  to  the  pandal,  where  the  BrSh- 
mhrji  sings,  dressed  in  gay  attire  and  decked  with  costly 
ornaments.  After  taking  3,  5  or  7  rounds  of  this*,  a 
cutting  of  the  jasmine  plant  placed  in  a  brass  pot,  is 
carried  on  an  elephant  by  the  Eiayaju  (a  low  class 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  255 

Nambutiri)  the  family  priest,  to  the  nearest  Bhagava|i 
temple,  where  it  is  planted  on  the  night  previous  to  the 
ceremonial  day,  with  tom-toms,  pop  guns,  and  the 
joyous  shouts  of  men  and  women.  A  few  hours  before 
the  tying  of  the  tali,  this  cutting  is  brought  back  in 
procession.  As  the  auspicious  moment  draws  neatf, 
the  girl  is  brought  out  of  the  room.  She  is  made  to 
worship  the  sun  either  from  the  ground  or  from  a 
raised  platform  put  upon  posts  and  gaily  decorated 
with  festoons,  etc.  A  bow  and  arrow  takes  a  promi¬ 
nent  part  in  this  worship.  The  jali-tier  is  then  brought 
in  procession  with  the  usual  tom-tom  beating,  the  firing 
of  pop-guns,  and  the  shouts  of  a  joyous  crowd.  He  is 
received  at  the  gate  by  a  few  female  members  of  the 
house  with  A§htamangalyam,  and  is  seated  on  a  bench 
or  stool  in  the  pandal.  His  feet  are  washed  by  a  male 
member,  the  uncle  or  brother  of  the  girl.  Meanwhile 
the  girl  is  clothed  in  new  cloths,  called  Mantravati, 
and  is  brought  into  the  pandal  with  her  face  and  head 
covered  with  rich  cotton  or  silk  cloth  with  an  arrow 
and  a  looking  glass  in  her  hand.  If  there  are  more 
girls  than  one  to  undergo  the  ceremony,  they  are  seat¬ 
ed  screened  off  one  from  the  other.  Money  presents 
are  made  to  Brahmans  and  the  Elayatu,  and  the  latter 
hands  over  the  tali;  a  thin  piece  of  gold  shaped  like 
the  leaf  of  ASwafta  ( Ficus  Religiosa )  tacked  on  to  a 
string,  to  the  Jali-tier.  The  village  astrologer  calls 
out  Muhurtfam,  Muhurffam  (auspicious  moment, 
auspicious  moment)  and  the  string  is  tied  round  the 
neck  of  the  girl  amidst  the  din  of  tom-toms,  pop-guns, 
and  the  shouts  of  a  gay  gathering-  If  there  be  more 
girls  than  one,  and  only  one  pli-tier,  he  goes  through 
the  tying  in  turn  washing  his  hands  in  the  interval, 
and  as  each  one  has  her  tsli-tied,  the  screen  between 
her  and  the  next  one  is  removed.  The  girls  are  then 
carried  inside  the  house  by  their  brothers. 

When  an  E^angan  ties  the  tali,  the  ceremonial  is 
somewhat  different.  On  the  appointed  day,  the  boy 
selected  is  invited  t9  a  house  close  to  that  of  the  girl, 


256  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

where  he  is  fed  with  his  friends  by  the  Ksranavan  of  the 
girl’s  family.  The  feast  is  called  Ayani  unu,  and  the 
boy  is  thenceforth  called  Manavalan  or  bridegroom. 
From  this  house  he  is  taken  in  procession  to  the 
bride’s,  accompanied  by  men  ariped  with  swords  and 
shields  shouting  a  sort  of  war  cry.  The  Tirupsd’s 
procession  is  also  of  a  like  nature.  The  ceremony 
generally  lasts  for  four  days,  and  where  the  Mariavaian 
is  a  casteman  the  boy  and  the  girl  are  required  to 
remain  in  a  separate  room  under  a  sort  of  pollution  for 
3  days.  On  the  4th  day  they  bathe  in  the  neighbouring 
tank  or  river,  holding  each  others'  hand  and  return  in 
procession.  They  find  the  doors  of  the  house  shut 
against  them,  and  the  Manavsian  has  to  force  them 
open.  He  then  takes  his  seat  in  the  northern  wing  of 
the  building,  and  sweets  are  served  to  the  couple  there 
by  the  women  of  the  house.  The  girl  then  serves 
meals  to.  the  boy.  They  eat  together  and  proceed  to 
the  pandal  for  the  last  ceremony,  in  which  a  cloth  is 
severed  into  two  parts,  and  each  part  given  to  the  Ma- 
ijavsian  and  the  girl  separately  in  the  presence  of 
Enangans  and  other  friends.  The  severing  of  the 
cloth  is  indicative  of  a  separation  or  divorce.  And  the 
solemn  farce  comes  to  a  close.  The  divorced  wife 
has,  however,  to  observe  the  death  pollution  on  the 
demise  of  the  Manavsian. 

m. 

In  cases  where  the  family  is  poor  and  is  not  in  a 
position  to  afford  the  useless  and  meaningless  luxury 
of  having  an  Enangan  or  Tirupsd  to  tie  the  tali,  the 
girl's  mother  performs  the  office,  and  this  is  often  done 
in  the  presence  of  the  idol  in  the  village  temple.  The 
retention  of  the  tali  is  not  at  all  obligatory.  It  may  be 
broken  the  moment  it  is  tied,  of  course  that  would  be 
unseemly  or  indecorous,  but  never  sinful,  by  any 
means. 

The  headman  of  the  village  is  an  important  factor 
on  the  occasion  of  a  marriage  ceremony.  In  a  conspi¬ 
cuous  part  of  the  marriage  pandal,  he  is  provided  with 
a  seat  on  a  cot,  generally  lined  with  coir  yarn,  on  which 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  257 

a  grass  mat,  a  blanket,  and  white  cloth  are  spread,  one 
over  the  other.  Before  tying  the  tsli,  his  permission  is 
solicited  and,  with  his  consent,  the  tali  is  tied.  He  is 
paid  in  Cochin  4,  8,  1 6,  32  or  64  pufjens  (a  puften  =• 
10  ps.)  per  girl,  according  to  the  means  of  the  family. 
He  is  also  given  rice,  curry  stuffs  and  betel  leaf  and 
nuts. 

The  local  chieftain’s  permission  has  also  to  be 
obtained.  A  member  of  the  family  visits  the  Raja  or 
chief  with  presents  and  solicits  leave  to  have  the  cere¬ 
mony-performed.  Certain  special  privileges,  such  as 
worshipping  the  sun  from  a  platform,  sitting  on  a  grass 
mat,  having  an  elephant  procession,  drumming,  firing 
of  pop-guns,  serving  of  particular  articles  of  food,  etc. 
have  to  be  obtained  from  the  local  chief  or  ruler  of  the 
State,  if  one  is  anxious  to  have  them,  and  the  privileges 
have  to  be  paid  for. 

The  description  of  the  ceremony  we  have  endea¬ 
voured  to  give  sufficiently  points  to  its  real  character. 
It  is  purely  ceremonial  in  its  nature,  being  merely  a 
caste  rite.  The  man  tying  the  tali  is  at  once  dismissed 
with  a  present.  The  tali  itself  need  not  be  retained. 
A  single  individual  may  perform  the  office  to  many 
simultaneously  or  in  succession.  The  vicarious  office 
may  even  be  undertaken  by  the  mother— all  these  point 
to  what  the  ceremony  really  means — a  mere  nothing — 
simply  an  occasion  to  squander  hard  earned  wealth. 

It  will  be  found  from  Mr.  Thurston’s  Ethnological 
Notes  that,  among  many  castes  and  tribes  in  various 
parts  of  the  Madras  Presidency,  customs  resembling 
the  Tali-Kettu-Kallyanam  are  prevalent. 

‘‘As  a  religious  ceremony”,  said  the  late  Justice 
Sir  T.  Muthuswamy  Ayyar,  “the  Kettu  Kallyanam  is 
taken  to  give  the  girl  a  marriageable  status,”  or,  as 
Mr.  Elie  Reclus  quaintly  observes,  “the  nuptials  (refer¬ 
ring  to  this  ceremony)  are  here  interposed  only  to 
emancipate  the  woman,  and  introduce  her  into  the 

world”.  “But  in  relation  to  marriage”,  continues  Sir 

AG* 


258  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

T.  Muthuswamy  Ayyar,  “it  has  no  significance,  save 
that  no  girl  is  at  liberty  to  contract  it  before  she  goes 
through  the  Tali  Kettu  ceremony.  *  *  *.  A  cere¬ 

mony,  which  creates  the  tie  of  marriage,  only  to  be  dis¬ 
solved  at  its  close,  suggests  an  intention  rather  to  give 
the  girl  the  merits  of  a  Samsksra  or  religious  ceremony 
than  to  generate  the  relation  of  husband  and  wife.” 
Sir  T*  Muthuswamy  Ayyar  describes  the  Kettu  Kall- 
ySijam  as  an  “essential  caste  observance  preliminary  to 
the  formation  of  sexual  relation,  and  is  analogous  to 
the  ceremony  of  Samavartana  prescribed  for  Brahman 
bachelors  who  desire  to  terminate  the  Brahmachari 
Asramam  or  the  status  of  a  vedic  student  and  enter  on 
Grahasta  Asramam  or  the  status  of  a  married  man.’* 
“The  Tali  Kettu  now  is  no  marriage  in  itself,”  observes 
Mr.  Rama  Varma  Raja  of  Parapanad,  a  member  of  the 
Malabar  Marriage  Commission;  “it  is  a  preliminary 
purifying  ceremony  analogous  to  Samavartana  in  point 
of  capacitating  to  marry.”  “In  my  opinion”  says  Mr. 
O.  Chandu  Menon,  another  member  of  the  Commis¬ 
sion,  “The  Kallyanam  is  a  mere  preliminary  ceremony 
something  like  a  Samskaram  among  the  Hindus 
which  makes  the  person  who  undergoes  it,  eligible  to 
marry.” 

The  witnesses  examined  before  the  Malabar  Mar¬ 
riage  Commission  characterised  the  Kettu  KallySnam 
as  a  “mock  marriage”,  a  “fictitious  marriage”, 
“meaningless  ceremony”  an  “empty  form”,  a  “ridicu¬ 
lous  farce”,  an  “incongruous  custom”,  a  “pretence”,  a 
“waste  of  money”,  and  a  “device  of  becoming  involved 
in  debt.”1. 

What  then  is  the  origin  of  this  mock  ceremony? 
Some  writers  on  Kerala  trace  it  as  a  remnant  of  the  old 
days  when  they  say,  polyandry  was  a  recognised  insti¬ 
tution  in  Malabar. 

In  seeking  to  ascertain  the  origin  of  the  Maru- 
makkattSyam  institutions  now  extant  in  Malabar,  it 
becomes  necessary  to  go  back  to  their  early  stages  and 
examine  the  conditions  of  society  which  gave  rise  to 

1,  Para  30  of  the  Report, 


introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

them.  If,  in  doing  so,  we  find  that  the  Nsyars  belonged 
originally  to  a  stock  that  practiced  polyandry  or  even 
promiscuity  in  an  early  stage  of  its  history,  one  need 
hardly  be  ashamed  of  it.  Bachofen,  Mac  Lenan,  and 
Morgan  have  shown  that  polyandry  and  kinship  through 
females  are  phases  or  stages  in  the  evolution  of  all 
human  societies.  Of  course  there  is  the  opposite  theory 
of  Sir  Henry  Maine,  as  eminent  an  authority  as  any 
above  named,  that  the  origin  of  society  is  in  patriarchal 
families,  that  polyandry  and  kinship  through  females 
are  of  temporary  duration,  liable  to  be  brought  about 
at  any  stage  in  the  progress  of  a  society  by  peculiar 
circumstances  under  which  it  may  be  placed.1 
There  is  yet  another  theory  started  by  Laterneau  who 
in  his  Evolution  of  Marriage  maintains  that  there  is  no 
warrant  to  consider  this  form  of  conjugal  union  as 
having  been  general,  but  that  it  is  an  exceptional  form 
brought  about  by  necessity  in  a  good  number  of 
gross  societies.  Westermarck  says  in  his  History  of 
Human  Marriage  that  it  is  safe  to  hold  with  Max  Muller 
that  we  can  neither  assert  nor  deny  that  in  unknown 
times  Aryans  ever  passed  through  a  metroeratic  stage. 
Mr.  Andrew  Lang,  after  an  examination  of  the 
nature  of  the  evidence  in  support  of  the  theories 
of  both  Mac  Lenan  and  Sir  Henry  Maine,  observes, 
“The  Aryan  races  have  very  generally  passed  through 
the  stages  of  scarcity  of  women,  polyandry,  absence 
of  recognised  male  kinship,  and  recognition  of  kinship 
through  woman.” 

Of  the  non-Aryan  races  there  can  be  no  question 
that  they  had  to  pass  through  the  several  stages  before 
the  final  one  of  paternal  kinship  was  reached.  The 
maternal  family  and  inheritance  in  the  female  line  need 
not  necessarily  be  the  result  of  polyandry.  It  may  be, 
and  probably  is,  one  of  the  many  causes  that  conduce 
to  bring  it  about.  Among  the  Tibetans,  the  Todas, 
the  Ainos  of  Japan  and  other  races  that  practice  poly¬ 
andry  and  have  hardly  any  system  of  settled  marriage, 

1.  Early  Law  and  Custom,  p.  20*. 

2.  Custom  and  Myth,  p.  27s. 


2S0 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


PL.  to 


inheritance  is  through  males  and  not  females.  So  also 
among  some  of  the  aborginal  tribes  in  North  America, 
the  Pacific  Islands  in  Australia  and  Africa  where  the 
son,  as  a  rule,  takes  the  father’s  name  and  becomes 
heir  to  his  property,  though  marriage  amongst  them 
is  in  the  lowest  stage.' 

The  Scythians  had  practised  polyandry  as  a  recog¬ 
nised  fact,  and  30  millions  of  respectable  people  of 
Scythian  origin  practice  it  in  Tibet.  Herodotus  says, 
of  the  Agathyrsi,  a  Scythiah  people,  “They  have  their 
women  in  common  that  they  may  be  all  brothers  of 
each  other.”  Aristotle  alludes  to  similar  promiscuity 
among  the  Lybians.  “They  have  their  women  in  com¬ 
mon,  and  distribute  the  children  by  their  likenesses  to 
the  men.”  Diodorus  Siculus  reports  the  same  man¬ 
ners  among  the  Troglodytos,  and  the  Ichthyophagi  on 
the  coast  of  the  Red  Sea.  The  Auseis  are  said  by 
PTerodotus  to  have  lived  like  cattle  with  no  permanent 
cohibitation.  Among  the  ancient  Greeks  themselves,  it 
is  said  that  the  women  of  Attica  abandoned  themselves 
to  unchecked  vice,  and  the  male  parentage  of  children 
could  not  be  ascertained.  The  polyandry  of  Draupadi 
as  related  in  the  Mahabharata  is  an  instance  of  its 
practice  among  the  Aryans  of  India.  Among  the 
ancient  Hindus,  before  the  time  of  Svefaketu,  “women 
were  unconfined  and  roamed  at  their  pleasure.”  Among 
the  Egyptians  and  Chinese  promiscuity  was  ”  the 
rule  before  the  institution  of  marriage  by  Menes 
and  Tohi  respectively.  Ceasar’s  description  of  the 
manners  of  Britain  at  the  period  of  the  Roman 
conquest  coincided  generally  with  the  alleged  practice 
reported  to  exist  in  Malabar,  not  only  in  the  lower, 
but  among  the  higher  classes,  with  the  exception  re. 
garding  filiation.  Ceasar  says:  “Ten  or  twelve  men 
have  wives  in  common,  and  chiefly  brothers  share  with 
brothers,  and  fathers  and  children”.  “Sir  William 
Temple”,  remarks  Wilks,  “who  has  some  curious 
observations  on  these  associations  of  ten  or  twelve 
families  of  our  ancestors,  relates  the  apology  made  on 

x.  Westermarck,  p.  98  et  seq* 


lntrod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  261 

the  subject  by  a  British  lady  who  had  been  admitted  to 
some  intimacy  with  Julia  Augusta  in  the  time  of  Seve- 
rus,  “We  do  that  openly  with  the  best  of  our  men 
which  you  do  secretly  with  the  worst  of  yours’51. 
The  area  over  which  some  form  of  polyandry 
extends  may  be  traced,  as  observed  by  Mr.  Mac 
Lenan  in  his  Primitive  Marriage ,  “to  points  half 
round  the  globe55.  Thus  there  is  ample  evidence  to 
show  that  the  family  as  known  among  the  civilised 
nations  of  the  present  day  was  evolved  out  of  a  prior  ( 
state  of  polyandry  and  promiscuity. 

It  has  been  argued  that  polyandry  and  its  corollary 
descent  of  property  in  the  female  line  were  intro  'uced 
into  Malabar  by  the  Nambutiri  Brahmans  for  their 
own  selfish  ends,  and  that  the  Kettu  KallySnam  cere¬ 
mony  indicates  a  period  when  marriage  as  elsewhere 
in  India  was  a  religious  sacramental  institution.  That 
Brahman  work,  the  Kerala  Mahatmyam ,  deals  with  the 
matter  in  question  in  chapters  48  to  51.  Parasu  Rama 
is  said  to  have  ordained  that  “among  the  folk  of  this 
land  in  this  my  country  among  all  castes,  among  all 
Samantas,  and  among  all  other  women  likewise,  let 
there  be  no  chastity.  But  as  for  the  wives  of  Brahmans 
and  of  Dwijas  (twice-born),  let  the  rule  of  chastity 
stand  in  regard  to  them;  with  other  residents  let  there 
be  no  rule  of  chastity”.  It  is  impossible  to  believe 
that  a  fiat  like  this,  even  with  the  impremature 
of  the  divine  authority  of  Parasu  Rama  would  lead  a 
community  to  give  up  their  social  customs  and  manners 
of  such  vital  importance,  and  adopt  others  abhorrent  to 
all  principles  of  morality,  religion  and  social  life,  simply 
to  please  another  community.  We  read  in  the  Ktralol • 
pathy  that  the  Nambutiri  Brahmans  themselves  refused 
to  renounce  their  old  customs  and  adopt  new  ones 
to  please  their  patron  saint*  and  that  only  the  Payyanur 
gr2mam  adopted  the  MarumakkattSyam  system.  “It 
requires”,  as  remarked  by  Mr.  Justice  NarayanaMarar* 
“more  than  the  proverbial  grain  of  salt  to  take  in  the 

1.  Mysore,  vol.  2,  pp.  122— 3. 


262  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

assertion  that  the  Nayars,  who  followed  the  monoandrous 
and  patriarchal  system  before  the  advent  of  the  Brah¬ 
mans,  assumed  the  polyandrous  and  matriarchal  system 
at  their  instance.  It  means  that  while  you  were  living 
with  your  wife  and  children  as  a  family,  in  the  modern 
acceptation  of  the  term,  involving  the  right  in  them  to 
succeed  to  all  your  property  on  your  death,  you  were 
told  that  you  should  no  more  regard  the  tie  of  the  family 
as  permanent,  nor  your  wife  and  children  as  your  suc¬ 
cessors,  and  that  your  property  should  go  after  your 
death  to  your  sister  and  her  children,  these  in  their 
turn  abandoning  all  their  right  to  succeed  to  their  hus¬ 
band  and  father  though  the  change  were  highly  detri¬ 
mental  to  them,  and  you  and  the  others  quietly  accepted 
it.  Those  who  will  bestow  some  little  thought  on  the 
matter  will  readily  realize  the  monstrosity  of  this  theory 
and  agree  with  me,  I  hope,  in  my  difficulty  to  accept 
it-”1 

This  is  the  conclusion  that  that  eminent  jurist  Sir 
T.  Muthuswamy  Iyer  has  arrived  at.  The  learned 
judge  observes  that  “a  handful  of  Brahmans,  who  must 
have  settled  in  Malabar  in  small  groups  from  time  to 
time,  could  not  have  succeeded  in  uprooting  the  national 
institution  of  marriage,  if  any,  even  if  they  had  attempt-- 
ed  to  do  so.” 

Another  theory  propounded  is  that  the  Nsyars 
were  not  polyandrous  when  they  settled  in  Malabar, 
but  that  they  deliberately  adopted  it  as  suitable  for 
their  military  habits.  The  theory  had  its  advocates 
from  early  times.  The  Malabar  system  first  became 
known  in  Europe  through  the  works  of  Barbosa  and 
Castenheda,  both  of  whom  give  a  description,  however 
meagre,  of  the  Tali  Kettu  Kallyanam .  Speaking  of 
the  members  of  a  northern  family,  Barbosa  says,  “The 
nieces  or  sisters,  from  whom  has  to  proceed  the 
lineage  of  the  Kings,  are  held  in  great  honour  guarded, 
and  served,  and  they  possess  revenues  for  their  main¬ 
tenance.  And  when  one  of  these  is  of  age  to  bring 

1,  Malabar  Quarterly  Review,  vol.  p*  30. 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  26S 

forth,  on  arriving  at  about  13  to  14  years,  they  prepare 
to  make  festivity  and  entertainment  for  her,  and  to 
make  her  enceinte ,  and  they  summon  some  young 
men,  a  noble  and  honourable  person,  of  whom  there 
are  many,  deputed  for  this,  and  they  send  to  fetch  him 
that  he  may  come  for  this  purpose.  And  he  comes, 
and  they  give  him  a  great  entertainment,  and  perform 
some  ceremonies,  and  he  ties  some  gold  jewel  to  the 
neck  of  the  damsel,  and  she  wears  it  all  her  life  in  sign 
of  having  performed  those  ceremonies  in  order  to  be 
able  to  do  with  herself  whatever  she  chooses ;  because, 
until  the  performance  of  this  ceremony,  she  could  not 
dispose  of  herself.  And  the  before  mentioned  youth 
remains  with  her  for  some  days,  very  well  attended  to, 
and  then  returns  to  his  land.  And  she  sometimes 
remains  in  the  family  way*  and  sometimes  not,  and 
from  this  time  forth  for  her  pleasure  she  takes  some 
Brahman,  whosoever  she  likes  best  and  there  are  priests 
among  them,  and  of  those  she  has  as  many  as  she 
likes.*’  Castenheda’s  account  is  the  same. 

Montaigne,  whose  Essays  were  first  published  in 
1558,  not  long  after  Castenheda’s  work  appeared  in 
print,  was  inclined  to  think  that  the  Malabar  system 
was  devised  to  maintain  the  military  habits  of  the 
people.  What  the  Malabar  Kings  wanted  was  an 
“army  of  bachelors  as  King  Ceteways  of  Ashantee*'. 
Montaigne  says  in  his  Essay  upon  some  verses  of 
Virgil: — 

“Those  of  Calicut  made  of  their  nobility  a  degree 
above  humane.  Marriage  is  interdicted,  and  all  other 
vocations  except  warre.  Of  concubines  they  may  have 
as  many  as  they  list,  and  women  as  many  lechardes  with¬ 
out  jealousie  one  of  another.  But  it  is  capital  crime 
and  unremissible  offence  to  contract  or  marry  with  any 
different  condition ;  nay,  they  deeme  themselves  dis¬ 
paraged  and  polluted  if  they  have  but  touched  them  in 
passing  by.” 

Castenheda  himself  has  written,  “This  strange 
law  prohibiting  marriage  was  established  that  they 


264 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 

might  have  neither  wives  nor  children,  on  whom  to  fix 
their  love  and  attachment,  and  that,  being  free  from  all 
family  cares,  they  might  more  willingly  devote  them¬ 
selves  to  warlike  service.” 

There  are  eminent  advocates  of  this  theory. 
Montesque  assigns  the  following  reason  for  the  poly- 
androus  system  of  the  Nsyar  ladies.  “The  origin  of 
the  custom  is  not  difficult  to  discover.  The  Nairs  are 
the  tribe  of  Nobles,  who  are  the  soldiers  of  the  nation: 
in  Europe,  soldiers  are  not  encouraged  to  marry;  in 
Malabar,  where  the  climate  requires  greater  indulgence, 
they  are  satisfied  with  rendering  marriage  as  little 
burthensome  as  possible,  they  give  one  wife  amongst 
many  men;  which  consequently  diminishes  the  attach¬ 
ment  to  a  family,  and  the  cares  of  house-keeping  ;  and 
leaves  them  in  the  free  possession  of  a  military  spirit.”1 

Mr.  Warden,  Collector  of  Malabar  (1804  to  1816), 
in  a  report  to  the  Board  of  Revenue,  gave  the  same 
explanation  of  the  origin  of  polyandry  and  the  Maru- 
makkatta^am  system.  “The  profession  of  arms  by 
birth”  subjecting  the  males  of  a  whole  race  to 
military  sevice  from  the  earliest  youth  to  the  decline  of 
manhood,  was  a  system  of  polity  utterly  incompatible 
with  the  existence  amongst  them  of  the  marriage 
state.” 

That  the  Nsyars  were  essentially  a  military  race 
has  been  more  than  once  mentioned. 

Whatever  merits  the  above  theory  may  have,  it 
would  be  hazardous  to  express  any  dogmatic  opinion 
regarding  the  Malabar  system.  The  materials  are 
scanty,  and  one  has  to  keep  in  view  that  one  is  apt  to 
be  prejudiced  by  one’s  experience  of  other  systems 
which  have  no  affinity  whatever  -to  the  Malabar 
system. 

It  has  however  been  pointed  out  that  the  Nsyars 
belong  to  the  Dravidian  race.  The  Dravidians  were, 
and  some  of  them  still  are,  a  polyandrous  race.  It  is 

j.  Quoted  by  Forbes  in  his  Oriental  Memoirs,  Vol.  1,  p.  24s 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  265 

most  likely  that  after  entering  Malabar  they  retained 
for  some  time  more  their  polyandrous  ways  under  the 
stress  of  adventitious  circumstances  rather  than  that  they 
deliberately  adopted  it  as  suitable  to  their  military 
organisation  or  that  the  Brahmans  imposed  it  on 
them. 

The  loose  habits  that  form  the  basis  of  the  system 
have  been  given  up  long  ago  and,  if  this  lingers  at  all,  it 
does  so  only  in  nooks  and  corners  far  from  the  ken  of 
civilized  life.  The  opinions  expressed  by  the  Nambu- 
{iri  landlords  and  others  of  the  same  class  before  the 
Marriage  Commission  give  expression  to  the  old- 
fashioned  Malabar  custom  which  they  would  be  the 
last  to  condemn  whether  out  of  self-interest  or  out  of 
veneration  to  its  reputed  divine  origin.  There  is  indeed 
much  truth  in  the  observation  contained  in  the  report 
of  the  Marriage  Commission  about  the  Maru- 
makkathayam  Hindus,  “They  are  all  or  nearly  all  of 
them  are  better  than  their  custom.”  Mr.  Fawcett, 
dealing  with  the  question,  observes,  “But  it  must  not 
be  imagined  that  the  goddess  Lubricity  reigns  supreme 
in  Malabar.  It  seems  perhaps  to  have  been  indicated 
that  she  does — such  is  however  not  the  case.”  He 
observes  that  he  has  not  known  any  admitted  instance 
of  polyandry  among  the  Njyars  of  Malabar  at  the  pre¬ 
sent  day.1  Mr,  Wigram,  who  was  a  District  Judge  in 
Malabar  for  a  long  time,  wrote  in  his  treatise  on 
Malabar  Law -and  Custom  in  these  terms  on  this  topic: 
‘‘Polyandry  may  now  be  said  to  be  dead  and,  although 
the  issue  of  a  Nayar  marriage  are  still  children 
of  their  mother  than  of  their  father,  marriage  may 
now  be  defined  as  a  contract  based  on  mutual 
consent  and  dissoluble  at  will.  ”  2  Mr.  Logan, 

(1)  Aayars  of  Malabar ,  p.  241. 

(2)  “Polyandry,  plurality  of  husbands,  if  it  ever  existed  as  an 
institution  in  Malabar,  must  certainly  have  died  out  by  this  time 
(the  time  of  Vatakkan  Pattuka! — the  Ballads  of  the  North);  for 
we  find  not  a  single  instance  of  any  such  practice  throughout  the 
pages  of  any  one  of  these  songs.  It  has  often  seemed  to  me  that 


268  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

whose  acquaintance  with  Malabar  entitles  him  to  make 
an  authoritative  statement  on  questions  connected  with 
the  country,  observes  in  his  District  Manual  that  female 
chastity  in  Malabar  is  as  good  as  elsewhere  though 
marriage  is  not  a  legal  institution,  “that  nowhere  is  the 
marriage  tie,  albiet  informal,  more  rigidly  observed  or 
respected  than  it  is  in  Malabar;  nowhere  is  it  more 
jealously  guarded  or  its  neglect  more  savagely  avenged”. 
Commenting  on  this,  Mr.  Justice  Muthuswamy  Iyer 
remarks  that  “the  system  of  enforced  privacy  in  the 
case  of  women  and  their  early  home  training  lend 
weight  to  Mr.  Logan’s  remark  as  a  correct  description 
of  the  case  in  North  Malabar  and  also  generally  in 
South  Malabar.”  Constancy  was  not  unknown  even  in 
the  days  of  Barbosa  and  Castenheda.  In  fact  constancy 
was  never  the  exception,  for  Barbosa  observes,  “and 
many  of  them  for  honour’s  sake  do  not  change  them.” 
“What  then,”  asks  Mr.  Fawcett,  is  the  meaning  of  the 
assertions  of  the  exponents  of  the  orthodox  view  that 
the  women  need  not  be  chaste  and  so  on  ?  The 
question  is  not  an  easy  one  to  answer,  but  I  think  we 
may  say  with  confidence  that  this  orthodox  view  has 
been  in  some  measure  propounded  by  the  Nambutiris 
for  their  own  gratification.  I  have  myself  known 
several  tragedies  arising  out  of  unfaithfulness,  and  I 
believe  the  old-fashioned  code  of  custom  admitted  the 
right  of  the  husband  to  kill  his  wife’s  lover  if  he  could, 
and  also  to  kill  his  wife.”  “As  a  matter  of  fact,”  says 
Mr.  Fawcett,  “lubricity  has  no  more  followers  in 
Malabar  than  elsewhere.” 

The  reason  for  the  introduction  or  adoption  of  the 
Talikettu  KallySnam,  which  was  an  imitation  of  Brah¬ 
man  marriage,  perhaps  with  a  view  to  ward  off  the 

this  charge  of  polyandry  laid  at  the  door  of  the  ancient  women 
of  Kerala,  is  the  result  of  a  huge  misunderstanding.  The  system 
of  living  in  tarawads,  the  respect  paid  for  the  wives  of  elder 
brothers,  all  militate  against  this  supposition.”  From  an  article 
on  Women  in  ancient  Kerala  by  Mr.  K.  Achyuta  Menon,  B.  A., 
B.  L.,  Govt.  Advocate,  in  Vol.  3.  No,  3,  pp.  124-25  of  the 
Teachers’  Magazine,  Trichur, 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  26f 

calumny  attachable  to  unrestricted  intercourse,  having 
vanished,  one  would  have  expected  that  the  ceremony 
itself  would  cease  to  exist.  Cessante  ratione  cessat  lex 
ipsa .  But  it  still  lingers,  and  KSranavers  of  Malabar 
families  still  vie  with  one  another  as  to  who  would 
squander  most  borrowed  money  on  this  meaningless 
ceremony  and  encumber  their  family  property.  The 
explanation  offered  by  Mr.  Fawcett  seems  to  be  apt. 

“The  ceremonies  surrounding  marriage  and  death 
seem  to  be  those  in  which  human  feelings  are  deepest 
and,  consequently,  in  these,  more  than  in  any  others,  we 
see  relics  of  a  long  gone  past;  much  of  the  ceremonial 
being  now  apparently  meaningless,  and  handed  on  after 
the  manner  of  all  ceremonial,  for  no  obvious  purpose, 
long  after  the  original  signification  has  been  forgotten. 
Amongst  all  races  of  the  world  it  is  the  same. 
These  form  perhaps — for  the  ceremonies  connected 
with  death  are  interwoven  with  primitive  religious  ideas 
— the  closest  links  between  our  earlier  ancestors  and 
ourselves.  The  institution  of  marriage  itself  is  not 
easily  liable  to  change  or  even  modification,  and  thus 
it  is,  perhaps,  that  it,  the  product  of  a  bye-gone  age,  is 
not  always  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  age  in  which  it  is 
found.  It  is  rarely  up  to  date.  It  is  invariably  blended 
with  superstitions  and  restraints  which  people  believe 
they  believe,  and  the  relations  between  the  sexes  are 
rarely  natural,  i.  e.,  rarely  free  from  restraints  which 
are  souvenirs  of  the  past  and  which  are  resented  in 
the  present.  Of  course  amongst  primitive  peoples 
changes  in  respect  of  marital  connexions,  as  also  in 
respect  of  death  ceremonies,  are  imperceptible.  They 
must  be  very  small  indeed  in  even  an  immense  period; 
and  in  their  case  there  is  not  that  unsuitability  to  the 
time  in  which  they  exist,  which  is  apparent  amongst 
those  societies  more  liable  to  change”. 1 

Kettu  KallySijam  has  never  been  considered  as 
real  marriage,  the  ceremony  which  creates  the  conjugal 

(i)  Mr.  Fawcett’s  Nayars,  Govt.  Museum  Bulletin,  p.  22% 


268  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

bond  at  any  time,  though  it  is  often  spoken  of  as  mar¬ 
riage  both  by  European  and  Indian  writers.  For  the 
real  ceremony  we  have  to  look  to  the  Sambandham  or 
cloth  giving  ceremony.  Among  the  early  writers 
Barbosa  and  Castenheda  and,  among  the  later,  Messrs. 
Bunchanan,  Mateer,  Logan,  Elie  Reclus,  Herr  Starke 
and  Nagam  Aiya  refer  to  the  Kettu  KalySnam  as 
marriage,  but  only  as  a  mere  formal  ceremony.  Buch¬ 
anan  says,  “The  female  Nairs,  while  children  go 
through  the  ceremony  of  marriage  both  with  Nambu- 
diries  and  Nayars,  but  here  (North  Malabar)  as  in  the 
south  the  man  and  wife  never  cohabit/’  1  The  Rev: 
S.  Mateer  writing  of  Travancore  says  : —  “  In 
early  youth,  the  girl  goes  through  the  ceremony  of 
marriage  by  having  the  Tali  or  marriage  cord,  tied 
round  her  neck,  but  this  is  not  followed  by  co-habita¬ 
tion.”  Again  “There  is  indeed  a  ceremony  called 
‘marriage,’  which  is  performed  in  the  infancy  or  child¬ 
hood  of  every  (Nayar)  girl;  but  it  is  the  merest  pretence, 
never  consummated  as  a  marriage,  and  conferring  no 
connubial  claims  or  obligations  on  the  nominal  bride¬ 
groom,  who  has  thenceforth  no  further  connection.” 
Again,  “But  the  mere  ceremony  of  marriage  does  not 
make  her  a  wife  unless  the  same  man  should  also  ‘give 
cloth’  and  cohabit  with  her.  The  trifling  ceremony 
of  “giving  cloth’’  is  rarely  omitted  in  any  case  of 
co-habitation.”  2  “Every  Nayar  girl”  says  Mr.  Logan 
“  is  married  in  one  sense  at  a  very  early  age”....  .«■ 
“the  strange  thing  about  it  all  is  that  the  girl  is  not 
really  married  to  the  man  who  performs  the  tsli'tying 
ceremony.”  3  Herr  Starke  speaks  of  it  as  “a  wedding 
ceremony  which  has  been  degraded  into  a  mere  forma¬ 
lity.4  fylr.  Nagam  Aiya  refers  to  Kettu  KallySnam 
as  the  “formal  ceremony  of  tying  a  tali  round  the  neck 
of  a  girl,  ”  while  he  mentions  “  Sambandham  ox 

x.  Vol.  t,  p.  165. 

2.  Native  Life  in  Travancore ,  p»  172. 

}•  Malabar  Manual  %  p.  135. 

4.  The  Primitive  Family .  Its  rise  and  Development* 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  263 

Pudavakoda  (literally  ‘cloth  giving’)  as  the  ceremony  of 
actual  alliance  as  husband  and  wife,”  1 

Sambandham  or,  to  give  its  full  form  Guna- 
Dosha  Sambandham,  is  the  institution  that  denotes*  real 
marriage.  It  means  the  contracting  of  relationship  for 
participating  in  good  and  evil,  almost  exactly  the  gist 
of  the  marriage  service  in  the  Church  of  England. 
Throughout  Malabar,  including  Cochin  and  Travan- 
core,  the  word  is  fully  understood  to  mean  marriage. 
A  full  account  of  the  Sambandham  ceremony  is  given 
by  the  late  Sub- Judge  Mr.  O.  Chandu  Menon  in  a 
Memorandum  attached  to  the  Marriage  Commission 
Report.  He  says: — 

“  The  variations  of  the  Sambandham  are  the 
Pudamuri,  Vastradanam,  Uzhamporukkuka,  etc., 
which  are  local  expressions  hardly  understood  beyond 
the  localities  in  which  they  are  used,  but  there 
would  be  hardly  a  Malayali  who  would  not  readily  un¬ 
derstand  what  is  meant  by  Sambandham  tudanguka  (to 
begin  Sambandham).  The  meaning  of  this  phrase,  which 
means  ‘to  marry’,  is  understood  throughout  Keralam  in 
the  same  way,  and  there  can  be  no  ambiguity  or  mistake 
about  it’\ 

“It  is  thus  found  that  Sambandham  is  the  princi¬ 
pal  word  denoting  marriage  among  Marumakkathayam 
Nayars.  It  will  also  be  found  on  a  close  and  careful 
examination  of  the  facts  that  the  principal  features  of 
this  Sambandham  ceremony,  all  over  Keralam,  are  in 
the  main  the  same.  As  there  are  different  local  names 
denoting  marriage,  so'there  may  be  found  local  varia¬ 
tions  on  the  performance  of  the  ceremony.  But  the 
general  features  are  more  or  less  the  same.  For  in¬ 
stance,  the  examination,  prior  to  the  betrothal,  of  the 
horoscopes  of  the  bride  and  the  bride-groom  to  ascer¬ 
tain  whether  their  stars  agree  astrologically;  the  appoint¬ 
ment  of  an  auspicious  day  for  the  celebration  of  the 
ceremony;  the  usual  hours  at  which  the  ceremony  takes 
place;  the  presentation  of  the  danam  (gift)  to  the 

i .  State  Manual  VoL  /.  p.  35*- 


270  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

Brahmans;  the  sumptuous  banquet;  the  meeting  of  the 

bride  and  the  bride-groom,  are  features  which  are  in¬ 
variably  found  in  all  well-conducted  Sambandhams  in  all 
parts  of  Keralam  alike.  But  here  I  would  beg  to  state 
that  I  should  not  be  understood  as  saying  that  each  and 
every  one  of  the  formalities  above  referred  to,  are  gone 
through  at  all  Sambandhams  among  respectable 
Nayars,  and  I  would  further  say  that  they  ought  to  be 
gone  through  at  every  Sambandham  if  the  parties*  wish 
to  marry  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country.  I 
would  now  briefly  refer  to  the  local  variations  to  be 
found  in  the  ceremony  of  the  Sambandham,  and  also 
particular  incidents  attached  to  certain  forms  of  Sam¬ 
bandham  in  Malabar.  I  shall  describe  the  Pudamuri 
or  Vastradanam,  as  celebrated  in  North  Malabar,  and 
then  show  how  the  other  forms  of  Sambandham  differ 
from  it.  Of  all  the  forms  of  Sambandham,  I  consider 
the  Pudamuri  form  the'  most  solemn  and  the  most 
fashionable  in  North  Malabar.  Of  course  my  descrip¬ 
tion  willLe  borne  out  by  the  evidence  that  is  before  us. 
The  preliminary  ceremony,  in  every  Pudamuri,  is  the 
examination  of  the  horoscopes  of  the  bride  and  bride¬ 
groom  by  an  astrologer.  This  takes  place  in  the  house 
of  the  bride,  in  the  presence  of  the  relations  of  the  bride 
and  bride-groom.  The  astrologer,  after  examination, 
writes  down  the  results  of  his  calculations  on  a  piece 
of  palmyra  leaf,  with  his  opinion  as  to  the  fitness  or 
otherwise  of  the  match,  and  hands  it  over  to  the  bride¬ 
groom’s  relations.  If  the  horoscopes  agree,  a  day  is 
then  and  there  fixed  for  the  celebration  of  the  marriage. 
This  date  is  also  written  down  on  two  pieces  of  cadjan, 
one  of  which  is  handed  over  to  the  bride’s  Karanavan, 
and  the  other  to  the  bride-groom’s  relations.  The 
astrologer  and  the  bride-groom’s  party  are  then  feasted 
in  the  bride’s  house,  and  the  former  also  receives  pre¬ 
sents  in  the  shape  of  money  or  cloth;  and  this  prelimi¬ 
nary  ceremony,  which  is  invariably  performed  at  all 
Pudamuries  in  North  Malabar,  is  called  Pudamuri 
Kurikkal,  but  it  is  unknown  in  South  Malabar. 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  271 

“Some  three  or  four  days  prior  to  the  date  fixed 
for  the  celebration  of  the  Pudamuri,  the  bride-groom 
visits  his  Karnavans  and  elders  in  caste  to  obtain  formal 
leave  to  marry.  The  bride-groom  on  such  occasions 
presents  his  elders  with  betel  and  nuts,  and  obtains 
their  formal  sanction  to  the  wedding.  On  the  day  ap¬ 
pointed  the  bride-groom  proceeds,  after  sunset,  to  the 
house  of  the  bride  accompanied  by  a  number  of  his 
friends.  He  goes  in  procession,  and  is  received  at  the 
gate  of  the  house  by  the  bride’s  party,  and  is  conducted 
with  his  friends  to  seats  provided  in  the  tekkini  or 
southern  hall  of  the  house.  There  the  bride-groom 
distributes  presents  (danam)  or  money  gifts  to  the 
Brahmans  assembled.  After  this,  the  whole  party  is 
treated  to  a  sumptuous  banquet.  It  is  now  time  for 
the  astrologer  to  appear,  and  announce  the  auspicious 
hour  fixed.  He  does  it  accordingly,  and  receives  his 
dues.  The  bride-groom  is  then  taken  by  one  of  his 
friends  to  the  padinhatta  or.  principal  room  of  the  house. 
The  bride-groom’s  party  has,  of  course,  brought  with 
them  a  quantity  of  new  cloths  and  betel  leaves  and  nuts. 
The  cloths  are  placed  in  the  western  room  of  the 
house,  called  padinhatta,  in  which  all  religious  and 
important  house-hold  ceremonies  are  usually  performed. 
This  room  will  be  decorated  and  turned  into  a  bed¬ 
room  for  the  occasion.  There  will  be  placed  in  the 
room  a  number  of  lighted  lamps,  and  Ashtamangaliam, 
which  consists  of  eight  articles  symbolical  of  Manga- 
liam  or  marriage.  These  are  rice,  paddy,  the  slender 
leaves  of  the  cocoanut  tree,  an  arrow,  a  looking-glass, 
a  well-washed  cloth,  burning  fire,  and  a  small  round 
wooden  box  called  ‘cheppu’  made  in  a  particular  fashion. 
These  will  be  found  placed  on  the  floor  of  the  rooms 
aforesaid  as  the  bride-groom  enters  it.  The  bride-groom 
with  his  groom’s  man  enters  the  room  through  the 
eastern  door.  The  bride,  dressed  in  rich  cloth  and 
bedecked  with  jewels,  enters  the  room  through  the 
western  door,  accompanied  by  her  aunt  or  some  other 
elderly  lady  of  her  family  The  bride  stands  facing  the 


272  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L,  *o. 

east  with  the  Ashtamangaliam  and  lit-up  lamps  in  front 
of  her*  The  groom’s  man  then  hands  over  to  the 
bride-groom  a  few  pieces  of  new  cloth,  and  the  bride¬ 
groom  puts  them  into  the  hands  of  the  bride.  This 
being  done,  the  elderly  lady,  who  accompanied  the 
bride,  sprinkles  rice  over  the  lit-up  lamps,  and  the  head 
arid  shoulders  of  the  bride  and  the  bride-groom,  imme¬ 
diately  leaves  the  room,  and  he  has  to  perform  another 
duty.  At  the  tekkini  or  southern  hall,  he  now  presents 
his  elders  and  friends  with  cakes,  and  betel  leaf  and 
nuts.  Betel  and  nuts  are  also  given  to  all  the  persons 
assembled  at  the  place.  After  the  departure  of  the 
guests,  the  bride-groom  retires  to  the  bedroom  with  the 
bride. 

“This  is  an  unvarnished  account  of  a  ‘Pudamuri’. 
Next  morning  the  Vettilakkettu  or  Salkaram  ceremony 
follows,  and  the  bride-groom’s  female  relations  take  the 
bride  to  the  husband’s  house,  where  there  is  a  feasting, 
etc,,  in  honour  of  the  occasion. 

“Uzhamporukkuka  or  Vidaram  Kayaral  is  a  pecu¬ 
liar  form  of  marriage  in  North  Malabar.  It  will  be 
seen  from  the  description  given  above  that  the  Puta- 
muri  is  necessarily  a  costly  ceremony  and  many  of  the 
people  resort  to  the  less  costly  ceremony  of  Uzham- 
porakkuka  or  Vidaram  Kayaral.  The  features  of  this 
ceremony  are  to  a  certain  extent  the  same  as  Putamuri, 
but  it  is  celebrated  on  a  smaller  scale.  There  is  no 
cloth  giving  ceremony.  The  toasting  is  confined  to 
the  relations  of  the  married  couple*  The  particular 
incident  attached  to  this  form  of  marriage  is  that  the 
husband  should  visit  the  wife  in  her  house,  and  is  not 
permitted  to  take  her  to  his  house,  unless  and  until  he 
celebrates  the  regular  Putamuri  ceremony.  This  rule 
is  strictly  adhered  to  in  North  Malabar,  and  instances 
in  which  the  husband  and  wife  joined  by  Uzhamporuk¬ 
kuka  or  Vidaram  Kayaral  ceremony,  and  with  grown 
up  children  being  the  issue  of  such  marriage  under¬ 
going  the  Putamuri  ceremony  some  15  or  20  years 
after  Uzhamporukkuka,  in  order  to  enable  the  husband 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  273 

to  take  the  wife  to  his  house,  are  known  to  me  per¬ 
sonally. 

“The  Sambandham  of  South  Malabar  and  the 
Kidakkora  Kalyanam  of  Palghat  have  all  or  most  of 
the  incidents  of  Putamuri,  except  the  presenting  of 
cloths.  Here  money  is  substituted  for  cloths  and  the 
other  ceremonies  are  more  or  less  the  same.  There  is 
also  the  Salkaram  ceremony  wanting  in  South  Malabar, 
as  the  wife  is  not  at  once  taken  to  the  husband's 
house  after  marriage”. 

The  Sambandham  ceremony  as  it  is  celebrated  in 
Travancore  is  thus  described  by  Mr.  C.  V.  Raman 
Pillai  in  his  answers  to  the  questions  of  the  Travancore 
Marumakkathayam  Committee.  He  says:  — 

“  Formerly  the  bride  used  to  be  chosen  by  the 
guardian  of  the  bride-groom.  In  those  days,  horoscopes 
of  marriageable  girls  used  to  be  obtained  and  returned. 
Now-a-days,  the  bride-groom  himself  often  makes  the 
choice,  and, no  importance  is  attached  to  horoscopic 
concurrence.  However,  the  horoscope  is  received  in 
the  generality  of  cases.  The  orthodox  cloth-giving 
ceremony  is  celebrated  thus:  After  the  preliminary 
private  arrangements,  an  elderly  representative  of  the 
bride-groom,  accompanied  by  a  few  friends  and  relatives, 
go  to  the  bride’s  house  where  her  guardian  and  relatives 
receive  them  and  treat  them  to  pan  supari. 

“At  an  auspicious  hour,  the  bride’s -horoscope, 
placed  on  a  plate,  is  delivered  to  the  senior  gentleman 
of  the  bride-groom’s  party.  A  small  feast  generally 
follows.  The  bride-groom’s  party  consults  the  astro¬ 
loger  who  fixes  an  auspicious  day  for  celebrating  the 
ceremony,  and  intimation  of  this  is  given  by  the  bride¬ 
groom’s  party  to  the  bride’s.  Both  parties  issue  invit¬ 
ations  to  relations,  friends  and  villagers.  The  bride¬ 
groom’s  party,  and  their  guests  meet  at  a  common 
place  and  proceed  to  the  bride’s  residence  where  they 
are  received  by  the  party.  Music  is  provided  to 

AI. 


274  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  so. 

4 

entertain  the  guests  by  those  who  can  pay.  The  wedding 
of  Sita  in  the  Ramayana  is  recited  in  a  prominent  place 
in  the  house.  In  the  most  commodious  portion  of  the 
house,  not  reserved  for  females,  arrangements  are  made 
for  the  ceremony.  At  the  western  end,  a  small  plank 
is  placed  and  a  white  cloth  spread  on  it,  other  drape¬ 
ries  and  ornamentations  being  super-added  according 
to  the  status  of  the  bride-groom.  The  following  orna¬ 
mentations  are  adopted  in  all  ceremonies. 

(1)  Nilavany,  u  e.>  ornamental  diagrams  with 
rice  flour  and  saffron  mixed  in  water. 

(2)  Well-lit  lamps  in  front  of  the  plank. 

(3)  Nira  Para,  z.  *.,  a  large  grain  measure  de¬ 
corated  with  Pookulay  (areca  nut  flower). 

“A  Machampikaran  (Enangan)  sits  on  the  right 
lamp  side  with  the  cloths  to  be  presented  placed  on  a 
plate.  At  the  auspicious  time,  the  important  gentlemen 
and  relatives  present  are  called  into  the  room  and  the 
rest  flock  round  according  to  the  accommodation.  The 
bride-groom  makes  presents  to  the  Brahmins  and  then 
bows  to  his  senior  relatives  and  takes  his  seat  on  the 
plank  facing  eastward.  The  bride  makes  gifts  to  the 
Brahmins  in  the  inner  apartments  or  sometimes  in  the 
marriage  hall;  of  course  she  has  to  be  shoved  into  the 
presence  of  the  bride-groom,  though  modern  young 
women  sometimes  make  their  appearance  with  a  mili¬ 
tary  jauntiness.  The  bride  in  all  cases  is  escorted  by 
an  elderly  relative  by  marriage.  The  bride  too  makes 
st  worshipping  bow  to  the  seniors  present.  The  plate 
with  cloth  [is  passed  on  to  the  bride-groom  by  the 
Machampikaran,  and,  the  former,  continuing  in  his  sit¬ 
ting  posture,  raises  and  streches  the  plate  with  both 
his  arms.  The  bride,  standing,  bows  to  the  bride¬ 
groom,  receives  the  plate,  makes  it  over  to  the  escort¬ 
ing  lady  and  retires.  The  bride  on  retiring,  immediately 
wears  the  presented  cloths  and  appears  before  the  ladies 
assembled.  The  husband  is  then  served  sweet  rice  by 
the  wife  amidst  the  Kuravas  (cheers)  of  the  ladies.  A 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  275 

grand  feast  follows  or  precedes  according  as  it  suits  the 
hour  fixed  for  the  ceremony.  The  invitation  to  the 
females  for  the  ceremony  is  limited  to  close  relatives 
and  friends.  The  bride-groom  provides  presents  in 
cloth  also  to  the  entire  household  excepting  the  mother 
of  the  bride.  Now-a-days,  there  is  tom-tom  and  music 
arranged  for  the  reception  of  the  bride-groom  and  to 
play  while  the  ceremony  takes  place,  but  presents  to 
Brahmins  are  dispensed  with. 

“A  well-understood  code  regulated  the  taking  of 
the  bride  to  the  bride-groom’s  house,  the  first  return  of 
the  bride  to  her  own  house  and  the  first  visit  of  the 
mother  to  the  daughter  in  her  husband’s  house;  but 
all  this  is  discarded  now.”1 

Mr.  Justice  Moore,  in  his  edition  of  Malabar  Law 
and  Custom ,  observes  that  there  was  nothing  analo¬ 
gous  to  the  Putamuri  prevalent  in  Malabar  from  A.  D. 
1550  to  1800,  and  that  this  may  be  fairly  presumed 
from  the  absence  of  all  allusion  to  it  in  the  works  of 
European  writers  from  Castenheda  to  Buchanan.  He 
says  that  it  is  not  easy  to  understand  how  it  came 
about  that  such  a  custom,  differing  so  completely  from 
the  state  of  things  described  by  them,  never  came 
under  the  notice  of  any  of  the  travellers.  It  has  to  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  European  writers  were  naturally 
prone  to  look  on  the  question  with  a  prepossessed 
mind.  They  were  altogether  strangers  to  the  idea  of 
marriage  except  as  a  religious  sacrament  conferring 
secular  rights  and,  .where  on  enquiries  they  found  that 
what  passed  off  for  marriage  in  Malabar  carried  with 
it  no  religious  merit  or  conferred  any  secular  right, 
they  naturally  enough  stopped  short  of  proceeding  with 
their  inquiries  further.  Even  if  they  did  proceed  fur¬ 
ther,  as  one  is  inclined  to  think  was  done  in  the  case 
of  Barbosa,  the  moment  it  was  found  that  the  union 
between  the  sexes  did  not  lead  to  the  conferring  of 
rights  to  property,  enquiries  must  have  been  dropped 

1.  (App.  B  to  answers  sent  by  interrogatory  witness  No.  43, 
Mr,  C.  V.  Raman  Pillai,  pp.  24 — 26). 


276  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

as  to  its  real  nature  and  the  ceremonies  by  which  it 
was  effected.  Barbosa  could  view  the  woman  from  his 
standpoint  only  as  a  concubine  or  mistress.  Speak¬ 
ing  of  the  Malabar  Rajas,  he  observes  :  — 

“These  kings  do  not  marry,  nor  have  a  marriage 
law,  only  each  one  has  a  mistress,  a  lady  of  great  line¬ 
age  and  family,  which  is  called  Nayre,  and  said  to  be 
very  beautiful  and  graceful.  Each  one  keeps  such  a 
one  with  him  near  the  palaces  in  a  separate-house,  and 
gives  her  a  certain  sum  each  month  or  each  year,  for 
expenses,  and  leaves  her  whenever  she  causes  him 
discontent,  and  takes  another  *  *  *  *  And  many 

of  them  for  honour’s  sake  do  not  change  them,  nor 
make  exchange  with  them,  and  they  seek  much  to 
please  their  king,  for  that  honour  and  favour  which 
they  receive.  And  the  children  that  are  born  from  these 
mistresses  are  not  held  to  be  sons,  nor  do  they  inherit 
the  kingdom,  nor  anything  else  of  the  king’s,  they  only 
inherit  the  property  of  the  mother.  And  whilst  they 
are  children,  they  are  favoured  by  the  king  like  child¬ 
ren  of  other  people,  whom  he  might  be  bringing  up, 
but  not  like  his  own,  because  since  they  are  men,  the 
children  are  not  accounted  for  more  than  as  the 
children  of  other  mothers.  The  king  sometimes 
makes  grants  of  money  to  them,  for  them  to  maintain 
themselves  better  than  the  other  nobles*  The  heirs  of 
these  kings  are  their  brothers,  or  nephews,  sons  of  their 
sisters,  because  they  hold  these  to  be  the  real  success 
sors,  and  because  they  know  that  they  were  born  fron 
-he  body  of  their  sisters.  These  do  not  marry,  nor 
have  fixed  husbands,  and  are  very  free  and  at  liberty 
in  doing  what  they  please  with  themselves.” 

These  travellers  seem  to  have  confined  themselves 
mostly  to  the  coast,  and  their  enquiries  do  not  often 
extend  to  the  interior.  They  were  therefore  at  con¬ 
siderable  disadvantage  in  obtaining  accurate  informa¬ 
tion,  and  when  the  enquiries  themselves  did  not,  and 
could  not,  extend  to  subjects  beyond  their  comprehen¬ 
sion,  one  need  not  at  all  be  surprised  at  their  silence 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  277 

on  matters  concerning  the  inner  social  life  of  the  peo¬ 
ple.  The  remarks  of  the  Fra  Bartolomeo  on  the  dis¬ 
ability  of  the  European  travellers  to  travel  along  the 
high-road  in  the  interior  part  of  the  country  shows  the 
difficulties  they  laboured  under  in  obtaining  correct 
information.  “The  Europeans  dare  not  use  it  (the 
high-way),  lest  the  Brahmans  should  be  polluted  by 
them.  For  this  reason  the  Europeans  must  pass  along 
the  sea-coast  which  is  inhabited  only  by  the  fishermen, 
and  people  of  the  lowest  castes.  Hence  it  happens  that 
few  Europeans  have  the  least  knowledge  respecting  the 
interior  parts  of  the  country,  though  they  talk  a 
great  deal  of  their  travels  in  India.”1 

Of  the  interior  parts  of  Travancore  and  Cochin, 
and  for  that  matter  of  Malabar  generally,  these  writers 
seem  to  have  known  little  or  nothing.  In  Travancore 
we  have  a  record  of  the  conflict  between  the  patriarch¬ 
ate  and  the  matriarchate,  which  came  to  ahead  when 
the  Kunju  Tampies,  sons  of  a  deceased  King  of  Tra¬ 
vancore  of  the  early  part  of  the  18th  century,  openly 
laid  claim  to  succession  to  the  throne  in  preference  to 
the  nephew,  who  was  heir  according  to  Malabar  Law. 
This  at  any  rate  shows  that,  about  the  year  1730,  u  *., 
the  period  when  the  event  occurred  in  that  part  of  Ma¬ 
labar,  people  were  disposed  to  acknowledge  paternity 
and  to  base  claims  on  the  same.  It  is  well-known  that 
Maha  Raja  Rama  Varma  of  Travancore,  known 
throughout  India  as  the  Rama  Raja,  had  wedded 
three  ladies,  provided  each  of  them  with  a  separate 
house  known  as  Nagercoil,  Aramana,  and  Tiruvattar, 
indicating  the  localities  whence  the  choice  was  made, 
and  ruled  that  henceforward  members  of  the  Royal 
house  could  choose  their  consorts  only  from  one  of 
these  three  houses.  If  the  choice  fell  outside  one  of 
these  families,  the  consort-elect  had  to  be  adopted  into 
one  of  them  before  she  was  formally  recognised  as  Am- 
machi  (or  Royal  consort).  Various  privileges  were 
accorded  to  them,  and  they  and  their  issue  received 

State  recognition.  Even  before  this,  the  sons  of  the 

s,  (p.  148.) 


278  LETTERS  FR'OM  MALABAR  [L.  2o* 

Rajas  of  Travancore  received  the  title  of  Tampies 
with  the  honorofic  of  Sri  (something  like  the  Sir  of 
English  knighthood)  prefixed  to  their  personal  names 
while  the  daughters  were  called  Ponnammas.  The 
ceremonial  forms  observed  bv  the  male  members  of  the 
Travancore  Royal  family  in  taking  a  consort  are  not 
those  of  yesterday  or  the  day  before,  but  are  those  that 
have  been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation. 
The  ceremony  itself  is  known  as  Pattum  kachcha  Iduka 
or  Pattum  Parivattam  Kodukkuka,  i.  e .,  the^  presenting 
with  silk  and  cloth,  and  is  the  exact  counterpart  of 
Pudamuri  (cloth  giving)  Sambandham. 

Tradition  also  points  to  formal  matrimonial  alliances 
formed  by  the  early  Malabar  Rajas  and  the  provision 
made  by  them  for  their  children.  Mr.  Logan 
refers  to  an.  account  preserved  in  the  Kerar 
lolpathy  of  “three-  women  (one  Kshetrya  and  two 
Sudras),  strangers  from  some  northern  land  being 
stranded  in  a  boat  on  ML  Deli.  Cheraman  Perumal 
took  all  of  them  to  wife  apparently,  and  on  the  descend¬ 
ants  of  the  Kshetrya  woman  he  conferred  the  title  of 
Elibhupan  (King  of  Eli)  with  ‘heirdom  to  Kingdom*,; 
and  he  built  for  her  the  Elott  King’s  house  at  the 
foot  of  Eli  Mala  (Mount  Deli).”  “This  tradition’ 
adds  Mr.  Logan  “relates  undoubtedly  to  the  northern 
Kolattiri  family  the  second  most  ancient  seat  of  the 
family  having  been  at  this  particular  King’s  house 
under  Mount  Deli”.  “The  descendants  of  the  other 
two  (the  Sudra)  women  became,  respectively,  the 
ancestresses  of  the  Nerpett  and  Chulali  dynasties.’1 
Mr.  Logan  is.  inclined  to  think  further  that  it  is  not  at 
all  improbable  that  the  Kshetrya  lady  with  whom  Chera¬ 
man  Perumal  formed  matrimonial  alliance  and  who  was 
the  founder  of  the  Northern  Kolattiri  Kingdom  belong¬ 
ed  to  the  stock  of  the  great  southern  feudatory  the 
Travancore  (South  Kolattiri)  Rajas.  This  he  believes 
explains  the  relationship,  admittedly  acknowledged, 
even  at  the  present  day  between  the  two  families.  T wo 
other  instances  are  also  in  point.  The  Keralolpathy 


ImrocL]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  279 

explains  how  the  Nlfewaram  dynasty  holding  the 
Malayali  portion  of  South  Canara  sprang  from  a  matri¬ 
monial  alliance  between  a  prince  of  the  Kolattiris  and 
a  lady  of  the  Zamorin’s  house.  The  Kadattanad  family 
had  also  a  similar  origin-  The  principality  of  Kadat¬ 
tanad  was  carved  out  of  the  Kolattiri  Kingdom  as  an 
appanage  for  the  wife  and  children  of  one  of  the  Kolat¬ 
tiri  Rajas.” 

Although  the  Sambandham  union  has  in  it  all  the 
elements  of  a  valid  marriage,  courts  of  law  have  hitherto 
refused  to  recognise  it  as  legal,  or  at  any  rate  as  having 
a  sanction  more  than  social.  The  question  as  to 
whether  a  Marumakkathayam  Sambandham  has  any  of 
the  characteristics  of  a  legal  marriage  has  not  up  to 
this  come  before  the  Madras  High  Court-  But  the 
legal  nature  of  similar  sexual  unions  among  the  followers 
of  the  Aiiya  Samtana  system  has  been  discussed  in 
several  decisions,  and  the  High  Court  does  not  seem 
disposed  to  accord  to  it  any  legal  character.  Such  a 
union,  the  learned  Judges  remarked,  “was  in  truth  not 
marriage  but  a  state  of  concubinage,  into  which  the 
woman  enters  of  her  own  choice,  and  is  at  liberty  to 
change  when  and  as  often  as  she  pleases. *’  Again 
“the  customary  cohabitation  of  the  sexes  under  Aliya- 
santana  law  appears  to  us  to  do  no  more  than  create  a 
casual  relation,  which  the  woman  may  terminate  at  her 
pleasure,  subject  perhaps,  to  certain  conventional  res¬ 
traints  among  the  more  respectable  classes,  such  as  a 
money  payment,  and  the  control  of  relations,  etc.,  which 
may  be  prescribed  as  a  check  on  capricious  conduct  ”. 

The  Malabar  Marriage  Commission  has  placed  on 
record  its  opinion  that  “Marumakkathayam  was  and 
still  is  destitute  of  the  institution  of  marriage”.  Re¬ 
garding  mixed  Sambandhams  it  has  been  remarked 
that,  “  whatever  view  be  taken  as  to  Sambandham 
among  Nayars,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  sexual 
connection  between  a  Brahman  male  and  a  Nayar 
female  can  be  characterised  as  anything  better  thaa 

x.  Malabar,  vol.  i,  pp.  a 34—5-) 


280  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

concubinage”.  Sir  T.  Muthuswami  Ayyar,  the  learned 
President  of  the  Commission,  was  not  prepared  to  ac¬ 
cept  the  above  view.  In  a  Memorandum  annexed  to 
the  Report  of  the  Commission,  that  eminent  jurist 
observes: — 

“  It  is  clear  then  that,  in  the  course  of  social  pro¬ 
gress,  the  majority  of  the  Marumakkathayam  Hindus 
have  engrafted  forms  of  marriage  on  their  ancient 
practice,  but  these  forms  are  resorted  to  as  overt  acts 
whereby  the  intention  to  marry  is  manifested,  and  that 
the  sexual  relation  thus  constituted  in  the  majority  of 
cases  endures  for  life.  This  being  so,  the  point  for 
consideration  seems  to  be,  whether  it  is  legislation  on 
the  customary  basis  or  on  the  basis  of  the  Brahmo  Mar¬ 
riage  Act  (the  so-called  undenominational  Law)  that 
will,  by  enlisting  the  sympathies  of  the  people,  mbre 
effectually  help  on  social  progress.  The  Report,  how¬ 
ever,  overlooking  this  consideration,  mixes  up  notions 
of  the  ancient  polyandry  with  the  present  social  mar¬ 
riage  customs,  and  does  not  discriminate  between  a 
legal  marriage  and  a  social  marriage.  Further,  by 
introducing  other  side  issues,  the  Report  throws  a 
cloud  over  the  relations  of  the  sexes  as  it  now  exists, 
and  states  that  ‘Marumakkathayam  was  and  still  is 
destitute  of  the  institution  of  marriage’.  If  the  mar¬ 
riage  customs  are  so  bad  as  to  render  the  sexual 
relation  sanctioned  by  them  nothing  better  than  what 
it  was  in  the  primitive  stages  of  the  Marumakkathayam 
society,  how  are  we  to  account  for  the  admitted  im¬ 
provement  in  its  moral  tone,  and  how  can  legislation 
on  the  rigid  line  of  the  alternative  scheme  be  recom¬ 
mended  ?  Our  colleague,  Mr.  Chandu  Menon,  in  his 
interesting  Memorandum,  describes  the  marriage 
customs  in  detail,  and  they  are  accepted  in  the  Report 
as  accurate.  But  the  Report  states  that,  because  a 
Nambutiri  Brahman  who  goes  through  ‘Puaamuri’  does 
not  consider  it  a  marriage  binding  upon  him,  therefore 
it  cannot  be  regarded  as  marriage  in  any  other  case. 
A  Brahman  may  not  look  upon  any  marriage  other 


281 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

than  vedic  as  binding  upon  him;  but  that  is  no  sufficient 
reason  for  concluding  that,  as  between  Nayars,  it  is  not 
regarded  as  binding  either.  On  the  other  hand,  that 
the  Nambootiri  Brahmans  themselves  are  compelled*to 
go  through  the  same  formalities  of  wedding  proves 
that,  owing  to  social  progress,  the  Nayar  women  in¬ 
sist  on  giving  the  union  the  character  of  a  marriage/ 

The  question  came  up  for  decision  in  the 
Travancore  High  Court  in  a  suit  in  which  the  issue  of 
a  NSyar  woman  who  had  contracted  a  Putamuri  Sam- 
bandham  with  a  junior  member  of  a  Nambutiri  Illam 
sued  the  father  for  maintenance,  from  him  personally 
and  from  his  Illam  properties  (20  T.  L.  R.,  p.  65). 
The  maintenance  was  decreed  by  a  majority  of  the 
Judges  who  seem,  however,  not  to  have  agreed  on  the 
grounds  of  their  decision.  The  appeal  was  heard  by 
three  Judges,  Govinda  Pillai,  Hunt  and  Padmanabha 
Ayyar,  J.  J.  who  were  divided  in  their  opinion  with  re¬ 
gard  to  the  legal  effect  of  the  union.  While  Mr.  Justice 
Padmanabha  Ayyar  held  it  “not  a  valid  marriage’',  Mr. 
Justice  Govinda  Pillai  thought  it  “fit  for  legal  recogni-, 
tion,”  and  Mr.  Justice  Hunt  was  of  opinion  that  “it  is 
a  matrimonial  union  recognised  by  custom  in  Travan¬ 
core  and  acceptable  to  both  Nambootiris  and  Nayars 
and  is  a  valid  marriage  in  law”.  Both  Govinda 
Pillai  and  Padmanabha  Ayyar,  J.  J.  tested  the  validity 
and  legality  of  the  union  by  the  principles  of  Hindu 
Law,  forgetting,  for  the  moment  that,  at  least  one  of 
the  parties  to  the  union,  was  not  a  follower  of  that  law. 
The  Nayar  wife  was  a  follower  of  the  Marumakkajja- 
yam  system  which,  in  no  sense,  forms  part  of  Sastraic 
Hindu  Law.  It  is  based  wholly  on  immemorial  usage, 
and  it  was  usage  that  was  pleaded  in  justification  of 
the  validity  and  the  legality  of  the  union. 

Dealing  with  the  legal  effect  of  a  Sambandham 
union  as  between  Nayar  males  anjd  females,  Mr.  Justice 
Govinda  Pillai  observes,  “it  is  a  well  known  fact  that 
such  unions  are  looked  upon  by  the  community  con¬ 
cerned  as  sacred  as  marriage  among  other  classes.  In 

AJ, 


1:82  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

pursuance  of  the  moral  sense  of  that  community,  the 
Sambandham  union  is  fit  for  legal  recognition. *'  Again, 
speaking  of  a  Sambandham  union  between  a  Nambu- 
tiri  Brahman  and  a  Nayar  female,  the  learned  Judge 
says  ‘‘Sanctified  by  the  practice  of  a  thousand  years, 
the  usage  has  been  invariable,  imperative  and  definite  and 
thus  has  all  the  necessary  elements  of  a  valid  custom.” 
“Both  parties  to  such  a  union  consider  it  as  legitimate 
and  proper.”  After  this  pronouncement,  it  is  difficult 
to  understand  why  legal  recognition  could  not  be  given 
to  such  a  union. 

Public  opinion  is  everywhere  and  at  all  times  the 
source  of  all  law,  and  custom  is  the  most  concrete  ex¬ 
pression  of  public  opiniontand  it  is  through  judicial  re¬ 
cognition  that  custom  becomes  incorporated  with  the  law 
of  a  country  where  it  prevails.  No  political  legislation 
is  needed  to  legalise  the  custom;  mere  judicial  sanction  is 
enough.  Where  the  law  is  unwritten,  judicial  legislation 
can  give  legal  effect  to  notions  which  ha.ve  a  prevailing 
preponderance  in  the  community.  “Whatever  disad¬ 
vantages  attach  to  a  system  of  unwritten  law”,  observed 
Chief  Justice  Sir  Alexander  Cockburn  in  IVason  vs. 
Wallers ,  “and  of  this  we  are  fully  sensible,  it  has  at 
least  this  advantage,  that  its  elasticity  enables  those 
who  administer  it  to  adapt  it  to  the  varying  conditions 
of  society  and  to  the  requirements  and  habits  of  the 
age  in  which  we  live,  so  as  to  avoid  the  inconsistencies 
and  injustice  which  arise  when  the  law  is  no  longer  in 
harmony  with  the  wants  and  usages  and  the  interests 
of  the  generation  to  which  it  is  immediately  applied.” 
Mr-  Justice  Hunt  who  appears  to  have  approached  the 
question  with  a  perfectly  open  mind  has  pointed  out 
in  his  judgment,  rightly  enough,  that  “The  chief  dif¬ 
ficulty  that  Christian  and  Hindu  writers  have  to  contend 
with  in  discussing  Malayalee  marriages  is  the  inherent 
'prejudice  or  conservatism  of  men  to  whom  marriage 
is  in  the  nature  of  a  sacrament,  approaching  the  sub¬ 
ject  in  any  other  light  but  that  alone.”  Most  of  the 
members  of  the  Malabar  Marriage  Commission  will  be 


introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  283 

seen  to  have  been  altogether  unable  to  soar  above  this 
inherent  prejudice.  “The  parties  do  not  plight'  troth 
and  do  not  call  God  to  witness  their  union,  so  there  is 
the  absence  of  a  religious  element  in  it.  There  is  no 
permanency  in  the  union,  and  such  a  contract  is  a  con¬ 
tradiction  in  terms.  No  rights  to  property  flow  from 
it,  and  such  a  union  cannot  be  dignified  with  the  name 
of  marriage’*,  and  so  on.  But  those  who  argue  in  this 
line  forget  that  a  legal  and  valid  marriage  can  arise  out 
of  a  civil  contract,  that  the  sanction  of  religion  is  not 
a  sine  qua  non  of  its  validity,  that  the  pronouncing  of 
the  words  of  divorce  by  a  Mahomedan  once  a  month 
for  three  successive  months  is  not  far  removed  in  sim¬ 
plicity  from  the  Malayalee  form  of  divorce,  that,  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  the  contract  at  its  inception  is 
intended  to  be  a  life-long  one,  in-  one  sense,  every 
marriage  that  is  dissolved  is  a  contradiction  in  terms, 
and  that  the  relation  of  property  to  marriage  is  but  an 
accident,  being  the  creation  of  man,  having  nothing  to 
do  with  natural  law. 

In  most  uncivilised  countries  and  (latterly 
in  many)  civilised  ones,  marriage  is  regarded 
as  a  civil  contract  and  no  religious  ceremonies  need  be 
interposed,  nor  is  the  presence  of  a  priest  even  neces¬ 
sary  to  give  it  validity  or  legality.1  Religious  cere¬ 
monies  are  but  unnecessary  adjuncts.  In  Buddhist 
countries,  marriage  is  a  civil  contract.  In  China,  the 
only  ceremony  that  bears  any  semblance  of  religion  is 
the  prostration  that  the  parties  make  before  the  altar 
on  which  the  ancestral  tablets  are  arranged.  Among 
the  Hebrews,  they  have  no  religious  ceremony  and 
there  is  no  trace  of  a  priestly  consecration  of  the  con¬ 
tract,  either  in  the  scripture  or  in  the  Talmud.  With 
the  Mahomedans  also,  it  is  a  mere  civil  contract,  though 
concluded  with  a  prayer  to  Allah.  In  Greece,  it  was 
generally,  though  not  always,  contracted  at  the  Divine 
Altars.  Among  the  Romans,  marriage  was  purely  a  civil 
contract,  and  so  it  remained  in  the  time  of  Justinian, 
(i)  Westraark’s  History  of  Human  Marriage ,  p.  424, 


284  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.20. 

The  founder  of  Christianity  had  not  prescribed  any 
ceremonies  in  connection  with  marriage  but,  in  the 
earliest  times,  the  Christians  of  their  own  accord  asked 
for  their  pastor’s  benediction.  The  Emperor  Leo  the 
Philosopher,  A.  D.  886,  appears  to  have  been  the  first 
who  declared  ecclesiastical  benediction  necessary  to 
marriage;  but  his  constitution  was  in  force  only  in  the 
Eastern  Empire.  Among  the  early  barbarian  codes  no 
mention  is  made  of  this  ceremony,  and  in  the  History 
of  Gregory  of  Tours  marriage  is  treated  as  a  civil 
contract.1  Before  the  decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  in 
November  1563,  marriages  contracted  without  ecclesi¬ 
astical  benediction  were  recognised  as  legal  and  valid 
throughout  Christendom.  The  dogma  that  marriage 
was  a  religious  sacrament  was  gradually  developed 
and  finally  declared  by  the  Council  of  Trent  though 
not  unopposed.2  With  the  Roman  Catholics,  it 
is  still  a  sacrament.  After  the  Reformation,  it 
ceased  to  be  thought  of  as  a  sacrament  but  continued 
to  be  regarded  as  a  divine  institution.  The  French 
Revolution  brought  about  a  change.  Since  then,  civil 
marriage  has  gradually  obtained  a  footing  in*  the  legis¬ 
lation  of  most  ' European  countries  in  proportion  as 
liberty  of  conscience  has  been  recognised.  In  France, 
marriage  before  a  civil  officer  has  to  be  performed  be¬ 
fore  the  religious  ceremony  to  consecrate  the  union, 
and  any  minister  of  public  worship  who  proceeds  to 
the  religious  ceremony  before  the  civil  marriage,  is 
liable  to  severe  punishment  under  the  Penal  Code.  The 
French  system  has  lately  been  adopted  in  Germany  and 
Switzerland.  The  law  of  England  recognises  as  legal 
and  valid  a  marriage  celebrated  in  the  presence  of  the 
Registrar  of  the  District  and  of  two  witnesses  or  at  the 
office  of  the  Superintendent — Registrar  of  the  District 
and  of  two  witnesses  upon  making  the  declaration  and 
using  the  form  of  words  prescribed.  In  Scotland, 
marriage  is  a  civil  contract  constituted  by  the  mutual 

(1)  Mackenzie’s  Roman  Law%  6th  edition,  page  10S, 

(2)  do.,  p.  109. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  285 

consent  of  the  parties.  No  doubt  some  sort  of  religious 
ceremony  is  interposed  but  as  remarked  by  Lord 
Mackenzie,  “These  religious  forms,  however,  are  not 
essential  to  the  validity  of  marriage,  any  further  than 
may  have  been  rendered  necessary  by  the  positive 
institutions  of  any  particular  State,  for  it  belongs  to  the 
secular  power  alone  to  determine  what  forms,  if  any, 
shall  be  required  in  addition  to  the  consent  of  the 
parties,  in  order  to  constitute  a  valid  marriage.** 
Blackstone  observes  “The  intervention  of  a  priest  to 
solemnise  this  contract  is  merely  juris  positive  and  not 
juris  naturalisant  divhie'  • 

The  Hindu  Law  regards  marriage  as  a  religious 
sacrament,  the  only  one  prescribed  for  Sudras.  But 
it  has  to  be  borne  in  mind  that,  though  the  Nayars  have 
been  brought  within  the  pale  of  the  Hindu  religion, 
they  are  not  the  followers  of  the  Hindu  Law  ;  nor  can 
they  be  classed  with  Sudras  or  styled  as  such. 
They  are  seen  to  belong  to  the  Dravidian  race  and,  if 
classed  at  all,  would  belong  to  the  K§hetriya  denomi¬ 
nation,  and  are  governed,  in  their  civil  life  by  usages 
and  customs  some  of  which  at  least  are  contrary,  if  not 
abhorrent,  to  the  principles  of  Hindu  Law. 

Here  we  may  mention  the  main  features  of  the 
Pujamuri  form  of  Sambandham  as  prevailing  through¬ 
out  Kerala  and  test  their  efficacy  to  constitute  the 
conjugal  bond  among  Nayars. 

The  main  features  of  the  ceremony  are  : — 

(i)  The  consent  of  the  parties,  or,  in  case  of  the 
one  or  the  other  or  both  being  minors,  of  their 
guardians. 

(2^  The  ceremonious  delivery  of  the  bride’s  horos¬ 
cope  by  the  bride’s  people  to  the  bride-groom’s. 

(3)  The  selection  of  an  auspicious  day  for  the 
ceremony  in  consultation  with  an  astrologer  on  his 
finding  the  horoscope  of  both  parties  to  agree. 


288  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

(4)  The  sending  of  a  formal  invitation  in  writing 
of  the  auspicious  day  by  the  bride-groom's  party  to  the 
bride’s. 

(5)  The  bride-groom’s  procession  to  the  bride’s 
house. 

(6)  The  reading  of  a  portion  of  the  Ramayana  or 
some  other  sacred  book. 

(7)  The  presentation  of  cloth  by  the  bride-groom 
to  the  bride  in  the  presence  of  villagers,  friends  and 
relatives  invited  to  attend. 

(8)  The  placing  of  well-lit  lamps  and  uira  para 
in  front  of  which  the  ceremony  takes  place. 

(9)  The  distribution  of  dakshina  (gifts)  to  Brah¬ 
mans. 

(10)  The  serving  of  sweet  rice  to  the  husband  by 
the  wife. 

(11)  And  the  grand  wedding  feast  given  to  the 
guests  and  to  the  poor. 

The  most  essential  of  these  is,  of  course,  the 
presentation  of  cloth  in  the  presence  of  villagers, 
friends  and  relatives  and  in  front  of  lighted 
lamps  and  uira  para .  The  assembling  of  the  villagers 
for  the  bride-groom’s  . .procession  and  the  grand  wedding 
feast  gives  publicity  to  the  fact  of  the  union.  The 
reading  of  the  Ramayana  or  other  sacred  book,  the 
presence  of  the  lighted  lamps  and  the  distribution  of 
dakshina  to  Brahmans  lends  a  religious  colour  to  the 
ceremony,  while  the  serving  of  sweet  rice  by  the  wife 
to  the  husband  is  symbolical  of  their  future  joint  living 
and  messing. 

In  primitive  societies,  marriages  are  contracted 
with  no  ceremonies  whatever.  Among  the  Eskimo, 
visited  by  Captain  Hall,  there  is  no  wedding  ceremony 
at  all,  nor  are  there  any  rejoicings  or  festivities.  The 
parties  simply  come  together  and  live  in  their  own  tnpic 
or  igloo •  According  as  marriage  was  recognised  as 

a*  matter  of  some  importance,  the  entering  into  it  came,- 
like  many  other  significant  events  in  human  life,  to  be 
(i)  Wcstermarck,  p.  417, 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  287 

celebrated  with  ceremonies.  Very  commonly,  it  is 
accompanied  with  a  wedding  feast.1  Among  some 
people,  the  social  meals  that  the  boy  and  girl  eat  to¬ 
gether  is  the  most  important  part  of  the  ceremony.  As 
instance  we  may  mention  the  Sontals,  the  people  of  the 
Malay  Archipilago  (among  whom  this  is  the  chief  and 
most  wide-spread  marriage  ceremony),  the  Horas,  the 
Hindus,  the  Erethonians  and  the  people  of  Ermland  in 
Prussia.  Amongst  certain  Brazilian  tribes,  the  cere¬ 
mony  consists  in  the  couple  drinking  brandy  together. 
A  similar  custom  is  observed  in  Scandinavia  and  Rus¬ 
sia.  In  Japan  the  ceremony  consists  in  drinking  a 
fixed  number  of  cups  of  wine.  In  Assam  the  inter¬ 
change  of  the  betel-leaf  constitutes  marriage.3  In  Croa¬ 
tia,  in  Austria,  the  bride-groom  boxes  the  bride’s  ears. 

As  society  advanced  in  civilization,  the  religious 
element  was  imported  into  the  marriage  ceremony  and 
it  came  to  be  celebrated  with  religious  observances, 
either  with  or  without  the  intervention  of  priests.  This 
perhaps  accounts  for  the  reading  of  sacred  books  and 
the  distribution  of  danams  or  dakshinas  to  Brahmans.  For 
all  that,  the  presentation  of  cloths  creates  or  constitutes 
the  conjugal  bond  and  the  Sambandham  marriage  is  a 
civil  contract  complete  in  itself  and  does  not  stand  in 
need  of  the  adventitious  aid  of  religion  for  its  validity. 

The  next  objection  raised  against  the  validity  of 
the  Sambandham  union  is  the  want  of  permanency. 
Permanency,  however  desirable,  can  scarcely  be  con¬ 
sidered  as  an  essence  of  marriage.  What  we  have  to 
look  to  is  the  intention  of  the  parties  at  the  time  of  the 
commencement  of  the  union.  In  human  marriages  every 
degree  of  duration  is  met  with,  from  unions  which, 
though  legally  recognised  as  marriages,  do  not  endure 
long  enough  to  deserve  to  be  so  called  to  others  which 
are  only  dissolved  by  death.  As  a  general  rule,  human 
marriages  are  not  necessarily  contracted  for  life.  We 

(1)  Westermarck  p.  419.  See  also  Laterneau. 

(2)  In  certain  parts  of  Kerala  too,  the  presentation  of 
betel-leaf  plays  an  important  part  in  marriages. 


288  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

have  instances  of  strange  forms  of  marriages,  such  as 
experimental,  temporary,  partial,  conditional,  free,  etc., 
some  of  which  are  recognised  as  valid  even  in  this  civi¬ 
lised  age.  Among  the  Jews,  says  Laterneau,  in  Morroco, 
the  Rabbies  consecrate  temporary  marriages  for  three 
cr  six  months  according  to  agreement.  The  man  only 
engages  to  acknowledge  the  child  if  needful,  and  make 
a  certain  donation  to  the  mother.1  Such  temporary 
marriages  are  not  unknown  in  India.  They  are 
designated  Mutaa  in  the  Mahomed  an  Law  and 
are  regarded  as  lawful  by  the  Abkari  Shias*  They 
are  contracted  for  a  fixed  period  of  time  as  for  a  day, 
a  month,  or  a  year,  or  for  any  other  specified  period. 
Declaration  and  acceptance  are  considered  sufficient  to 
effect  the  union.  The  parties  become  absolutely  sepa¬ 
rated  upon  the  expiration  of  the  period.  The  Right 
Hon'ble  Sir  Syed  Ameer  Ali,  lately  a  Judge  of  the 
Calcutta  High  Court,  and  then  a  member  of  the  Judi¬ 
cial  Committee  of  His  Majesty's  Privy  Council,  tells 
us  that  this  peculiar  institution  is  not  altogether  un¬ 
known  among  Western  Communities  also  and  refers 
us  to  Hepworth  Dixon's  New  America .3  The  faci¬ 
lity  afforded  for  divorce  both  by  civilised  and  uncivi¬ 
lised  nations  makes  it  clear  that  permanancy  was  never 
considered  an  essential  element  of  the  marriage  union. 
Even  in  Roman  Catholic  countries  where  the  Church 
holds  marriage  indissoluble  and  condemns  divorce,  she 
has  allowed  a  good  number  of  cases  of  nullity  of  mar¬ 
riage;  and  in  Spain,  Portugal  and  Italy,  a  husband 
can  demand  a  judicial  separation  a  mensa  ct  thoro , 
though  the  marriage  contract  cannot  be  dissolved. 

The  last  objection  raised  is  that  the  Sambandham 
union  does  not  give  rise  to  rights  of  property  and  that 
children  do  not  inherit  their  father’s  effects.  The 
relation  of  property  to  marriage  is  but  an  accident.  It 
is  the  making  of  man  and  has  nothing  to  do  with 

(1)  Vide  The  Evolution  of  Marriage %  p.  67, 

(2)  I.  L.  R.  8  Calcutta,  736;  14  Calcutta,  276. 

(3)  See  his  Mahomed  an  Law,  Vok  II,  p,  353). 


Introd.J 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


289 


natural  law.  We  have  instances  of  strict  marriage  existing 
with  the  entire  exclusion  from  inheritance,  of  all 
daughters,  as  under  the  Hindu  Law  and  the  Mosaic 
law ;  of  all  daughters  and  sons,  except  the  first,  as 
under  the  English  Law  of  primogeniture,  or  the  last,  as 
under  the  system  known  as  “Borough  English, ”  and  of 
all  children,  as  among  the  Nambutiris  of  the  Payan- 
nur  GrSmam  in  North  Malabar.  There  is  also 
inheritance  without  marriage,  as  in  the  case  of  illegiti¬ 
mate  children  under  the  Hindu  Law  (Daslpujra),  the 
Roman  law,  the  Code  JSiepolean>  the  Mahomedan  Law 
(children  by  a  female  slave)  and  the  law  in  some  States 
of  America. 

Among  the  ancient  Egyptians  and  among  the 
modern  Chinese  and  Japanese,  by  custom,  illegitimate 
children  have  the  same  legal  rights  as  children  of  the 
wedded  wife.  Even  where  the  children  inherit  their 
father’s  estate,  all  systems  of  law  do  not  give  equal 
rights  to  them.  The  Mahomedan  Law  distributes  a 
man’s  estate  between  sharers,  residuaries,  etc.,  and  gives 
only  half  the  son’s  portion  to  a  daughter.  The  law 
of  Moses  gave  the  eldest  son  a  double  share.  The  law 
of  the  Twelve  Tables  distributed  the  father’s  property 
equally  amongst  the  sons  and  daughters.  So  also  in 
America.  The  same  law  is  applied  in  respect  of  move¬ 
ables  jn  Scotland.  In  Denmark,  half  the  estate  goes 
to  the  eldest  son  and  the  other  half  is  distributed  among 
the  remaining  children,  males  and  females  alike.  Mr. 
F.  Fawcett,  writing  in  the  Madras  Museum  Bulletin , 
of  the  Nsyar  system  of  marriage  and  property  rights, 
claims  it  as  a  merit  that  the  two  have  no  relation  with 
one  another.  “The  marital  relation  amongst  the  Nairs 
is  more  than  commonly  natural,”  says  Mr.  Fawcett. 
“The  most  obvious  reason  for  this  being  so,”  he 
thinks,  “is  that  they  are  less  influenced  by  considera¬ 
tions  of  property  than  elsewhere.  The  desire  to  main¬ 
tain  ‘property  within  the  family  is  the  curse  of  all 
natural  relations,  between  the  sexes’”  “What  strange 

AK4 


290 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


\L.  20 ; 


customs’’  asks  Mr.  Fawcett  “has  it  not  put  on  man¬ 
kind?  We  have  some  strange  examples  of  these  in 
Southern  India  as  when  a  woman  is  married  to  the  door¬ 
post  of  the  house  and  the  house-owner  begets  child¬ 
ren  on  her  to  inherit  his  property,  or  when  a  man 
marries  his  child  to  a  woman,  and  himself  begets 
children  on  her  and  the  individual  who  stands  in  the 
position  of  father  may  be  but  a  few  years  older  than  the 
son.  But  we  need  not  look  further  than  Europe  for 
anomalous  customs  which  inhibit  the  working  of 
the  law  of  natural  selection.  Malabar  is  fairly  free 
from  such  unfortunate  customs  and  it  is  perfectly 
fair  to  say  the  marital  relation  amongst  the  Nairs  is 
more  than  commonly  natural.’'  1 

A  real  insight  into  the  state  of  some  primitive 
societies  that  still  exist  will  reveal  the  circumstance 
that  the  relationship  between  marriage  and  inheritance 
is  a  mere  accident,  and  that  rights  to  property  need 
not  necessarily  follow  marital  relationship.  Similarly 
the  fact  that  inheritance  runs  through  the  mother  who 
owns  all  property  and  that  descent  is  reckoned  through 
the  female  line  need  not  necessarily  show  laxity  of 
morals.  Mr.  Frederick  Monson  writing  in  the  New 
York  Craftsman  of  the  Hopi  community  of  cliff-dwel¬ 
lers  in  Arizona  observes: — “The  Hopi  women  are 
excellent  specimens  of  primitive  humanity.  The  young 
women  are  well  formed  and  strong  and  of  irreproach¬ 
able  character.  They  own  the  houses,  as  well  as  build 
them  and  all  family  property  belongs  to  the  woman, 
who  is  acknowledged  as  head  of  the  household.  In¬ 
heritance  therefore  is  always  through  the  mother,  and 
descent  is  reckoned  through  the  female  line.  In  spite 
of  the  liberty  and  importance  enjoyed  by  the  Hopi 
women,  their  reserve  and  modesty  are  surprising.  They 
are  as  quiet  and  shy  as  if  their  lives  had  been  passed 
in  the  utmost  seclusion  and  subject  to  the  dominance 
of  man.  Their  whole  lives  are  devoted  to  the  care  of 
their  children,  and  the  matrimonial  customs  of  the 

i,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  a2g. 


291 


Introd  ]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

Hopi  are  of  a  grade  which,  if  generally  understood,  might 
make  civilized  law-makers  and  writers  of  civilized 
countries  stop  and  think.  It  is  marriage  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  woman,  not  of  the  man.  It  is  a  striking 
example  of  the  principal  effect  of  woman-rule,  and  it 
must  be  admitted  that  it  is  dominated  by  the  highest 
order  of  purity  as  well  as  common  sense.”  “They 
are,”  says  Mr.  Monson,  “a  people  without  gaols,  hos¬ 
pitals,  asylums  or  policemen,  and  crime  is  almost  an 
unknown  thing  among  them.”1 

To  the  objection  that  outsiders  do  not  look  upon 
Nsyar  Sambandham  as  valid  marriage,  the  obvious 
answer  is  that  what  we  have  to  see  is  not  what  others 
think  of  it  but  how  the  people  themselves  view  it;  In 
the  words  of  Lord  Brougham  in  the  suit  of  Warrandar 
vs .  Warrander  “The  laws  of  each  nation  lay  down  the 
forms  and  solemnities,  a  compliance  with  which  shall 
be  deemed  the  only  criterion  of  the  intention  to  enter 
into  the  contract”. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  marriage  customs 
of  Malabar,  Cochin  and  Travancore  are  entitled  to 
legal  recognition  as  they  carry  with  them  all  the  neces¬ 
sary  elements  of  a  valid  custom.  “Custom  is  crystal¬ 
lised  common  sense.’’  It  is  consensual  law.  As 
observed  by  Browne,  a  large  portion  of  the  laws  of  all 
nations  was  “at  one  time  in  an  amorphous  form  of 

heterogeneous  custom... . .  All  laws  have  been  in 

practice  before  they  were  put  in  words ...The 
legislature  is  second  in  time  to  the  executive,  custom 
went  before  law,  and  indeed  law  is  nothing  but  agreed- 
upon-usage.”  In  Malabar,  indeed,  “Custom  is  King.” 

The  Madras  Government,  in  their  letter  to  the 
Indian  Government  recommending  legislation,  observes 
thus  with  regard  to  the  marriage  customs  of  Malabar:— 
“It  appears  to  Government  that  the  case  may  be  brief¬ 
ly  stated  as  follows: — The  classes  governed  by 

l.  Review  of  Reviews  for  1907,  p.  61 1. 


292 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


(L.  20. 


Marumakkathayam  Law  form  sexual  connections  which 
are  at  the  time  of  commencing  them,  intended  to  be  per¬ 
manent  until  the  death  of  either  of  the  parties, and  which, 
in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  are  so ;  these  connections 
are  publicly  formed  and  socially  recognised  and  are 
accompanied  by  ceremonies  of  a  characteristic  kind 
which  have  nothing  in  them  of  a  religious  element,  but 
which  otherwise  are  as  much  marriage  ceremonies  and 
entitled  to  the  same  respect  as  marriage  ceremonies 
elsewhere.” 

The  Malayalees  are  so  well  impressed  with  the 
validity  gf  the  custom  which  regulate  Sambandhams 
that  the  attempts  of  those  who  attach  importance  to 
English  ideas  on  the  subject  of  marriage  to  bring 
about  a  change  by  providing  a  statutory  form  by  legis¬ 
lation  have  fallen  ffat  on  the  country.  Act  IV  of  1896 
passed  by  the  Legislative  Council  of  Madras,  entitled 
“An  Act  to  provide  a  form  of  marriage  for  persons 
following  the  Marumakkathayam  or  Alya  Santana 
Law,”  has  not  hitherto  been  a  success.  The  figures 
furnished  by  the  Registrar-General  show  that  the 
Act  has  as  yet  had  but  little  practical  effect  in  Malabar 
or  South  Canara.  What  is  wanted  is  not  a  new  statu¬ 
tory  form  of  marriage  but  a  legislative  recognition  of 
the  customary  form  now  irT  vogue  with  penalties  attach¬ 
ed  to  derelictions  of  marital  duties.  There  is  no  deny¬ 
ing  that  a  marriage  law  is  an  important  aid  to  national 
progress  and  the  provisions  of  the  Travancore  ‘Nair 
Regulation’  are  likely  to  be  more  acceptable  to  the 
people  than  the  statutory  form  prescribed  by  the  Madras 
Act.  The  enlightened  State  of  Cochin  also  has  given 
legislative  sanction  to  the  customary  form  of  marriage 
that  is  prevalent  in  the  country. 

In  the  joint  family  system,  such  as  that  of  Malabar, 
it  is  nothing  but  essential  that  there  should  be  strict 
rules  preventing  sexual  relations  within  certain  speci¬ 
fied  degrees  of  relationship.  But  before  dealing  with 
these,  it  will  be  well  to  consider  the  question  of  mixed 


Introd.j 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


293 


marriages,  i.e.,  marriages  between  members  of  different 
castes.  The  evidence  given  before  the  Marriage 
Commission  shows  that  custom  permits  a  man  to  co¬ 
habit  with  a  woman  considered  to  be  of  a  lower  caste 
than  himself.  Thus  the  twice-born  may  consort  with 
Ngyar  women.  Nayars  may  consort  with  women  of 
sub-divisions  held  to  be  lower  than  their  own,  but  not 

with  women  of  sub-divisions  whose  touch  would  im- 

*■  •  / 

part  pollution.  But  women  of  higher  classes  can  in 
no  case  consort  with  men  of  a  lower  class  without 
being  put  out  of  caste. 

As  Camoens,  the  Portuguese  bard,  sings  of 
Malabar  in  his  Lusiad , 

‘.‘The  haughty  nobles  and  the  vulgar  race 

Never  must  join  the  conjugal  embrace”. 

This  is  called  the  rule  of  Anulumaip  and  Pf-afi- 
lUmam.  Dr.  Gundhert  derives  Anulumarp  from  anu= 
with-Homan^the  hair-going  with  the  hair  or  grain. 
So  pfaplomaip  means  going  against  the  hair  or  grain. 

9 

According  to  this  usage,  a  Nsyar  woman  consort¬ 
ing  with  a  man  of  a  higher  caste  follows  the  hair,  puri¬ 
fies  the  blood,  and  raises  the  progeny  in  social  esti¬ 
mation.  By  cohabitation  with  a  man  of  a  lower  division 
or  caste,  she  is  guilty  of  Pfafilomam,  and,  if  the  dif¬ 
ference  of  caste  were  admittedly  'great,  she  would  be 
turned  out  of  her  family  to  prevent  the  whole  family 
being  boycotted.1 

But  in  the  course  of  centuries,  society  has  softened 
down  many  of  these  restrictions  considerably,  and  at 
present,  though  marriage  within  the  same  sub-division 
is  most  approved  of,  society  winks  at  and  condones 
alliances  which  offend  against  the  rule  of  Pratilomarp. 
This  is  specially  so  in  the  northern  parts  of  Travancore, 
in  Cochin,  and  in  parts  of  South  Malabar.  As  such 
unions  would  in  the  long  run  tend  to  the  fusion  of 

i.  Marriage  Commission  Report ,  Para  17. 


291  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

sub-castes  and  the  unification  of  the  various  sub-divi¬ 
sions  of  Nayars  into  one  composite  whole,  it  is  highly 
desirable  that  these  should  be  encouraged-  It  is 
significant  that  the  parties  to  such  unions  do  not  for¬ 
feit  their  rights  in  their  tarawads. 

The  Nayars  are  an  exogamous  race,  and  mar¬ 
riage  is  prohibited  within  the  supposed  blood  kinship 
as  denoted  by  the  family  name  and  community  of  pol¬ 
lution.  Such  marriage,  among  many  backward  races, 
is  reckoned  incestuous,  and  is  punishable  with  death. 
“Wide  prohibitions  of  marriage  are  archaic,  the  widest 
are  savage,  the  narrowest  are  modern  and  civilized.” 
Where  there  has  been  a  disruption  of  the  joint 
family  system,  the  very  strict  rule  as  to  prohibit¬ 
ed  degrees,  which  had  previously  prevailed,  will 
be  found  to  have;  been  given  up.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
according  to  Professor  Westermarck,  we  find  the  rule 
that  prohibits  marriage  between  kindred  more  exten¬ 
sive  among  those  who  retained  the  family  system,  than 
among  those  who  gave  it  up.1  The  true  reason  of  the 
prohibition  will  be  found  in  the  unwillingness  of  men 
to  marry  their  sisters  and  mothers  and  such  women  as 
they  consider  in  the  light  of  sisters  and  mothers.  And 
where  the  family  centres  round  the  mother,  as  in  the 
case  of  a  Nayar  tarawSd,  the  prohibited  degrees  will 
naturally  be  reckoned  with  respect  to  relationship  with 
her.  Thus  we  find  in  Malabar  the  rule  that  persons 
descended  from  a  common  female  ancestress  should  not 
intermarry.  Those  of  the  same  tarawad,  u  c.,  those 
who  have  community  of  .pollution,  can  never  in¬ 
termarry,  but  this  .prohibition  does  not  of  course 
extend  to  the  children  of  a  brother  and  sister,  who 
are  members  of  different  tarawads.  Marriage  be¬ 
tween  the  children  of  a  brother  and  sister  is  the  most 
fitting  marital  union;  that  between  the  children  of  two 
sisters  is  incestuous.  A  man  may  marry  a  woman  of 
his  deceased  wife’s  tarawad,  even  his  late  wife's  sister* 
but  it  is  not  in  harmony  with  social  sentiment. 

1.  History  of  Human  Marriage ,  pc  36* 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  295 

The  Nsyar  system  allows  of  polygamy  though  the 
Nsyars  do  not  generally  practise  it.  In  Travancore 
the  witness  examined  by  the  MarumakkaftSyam  Com. 
mittee  said  that  it  is  very  exceptional  for  a  Nsyar  to 
have  more  than  one  wife.  “The  practice,  at  least  among 
all  decent  sections  of  the  Nsyar  people, 0  says  the  Tra¬ 
vancore  Census  Report ,  “is  one  of  strict  monogamy”.1 
The  tendency  is  towards  monogamy,  and  even  those 
who  are  for  the  retention  of  the  institution  do  not  hesi¬ 
tate  to  condemn  it  as  being  against  good  morals. 

The  Nayars  have  hitherto  enjoyed  a  system 
of  free  divorce  at  the  instance  of  either  husband 
or  wife.  Under  that  system  “there  is  no  dragging 
on  under  a  bondage  intolerable  to  both.”  Though 
there  was  this  freedom,  it  never  led  to  perpetual 
change.  So  long  ago  as  1503  A.  D.,  Barbosa  had 
observed  that  *•  Many  of  them  for  honour’s  sake  do  not 
change  them.”  “The  right  to  divorce  at  will,”  says 
the  Travancore  Census  Report,  “is  sparingly  exercised. 
Even  the  remarriage  of  widows,  except  at  tender  ages, 
is  considered  not  quite  the  proper  thing,  if  it  could 
at  all  be  helped.  ”2  Again,  we  read  in  the  Tra - 
vancore  State  Manual,  The  theory  is  that  the 
marriage  connection  lasts  during  pleasure  and  is  dis¬ 
soluble  at  will;  but,  as  the  Sambandham  is  always  an 
affair  carefully  arranged  and  settled  after  consulting  the 
wishes  of  both  parties,  divorce  is  a  very  rare  occur¬ 
rence.  Permanent  attachment  is  always  the  rule”.3 
With  regard  to  British  Malabar,  the  Marriage  Com¬ 
mission  Report  observes,  “They  are  all  or  nearly  all  of 
them  better  than  their  custom,  and  the  majority  (as  we 
are  told  and  believe)  cleave  to  one  woman  for  life.”  4 
So  also  M  r. Fawcett  in  the  Madras  Museum  Bulletin s.  “It 
may  be  thought  this  liberty  induced  perpetual  change; 

1.  Part  II,  p.  301 

2.  Vide  p.  33 

3.  Vol.  2,  p.  358. 

4.  Para  48. 

5.  Vol.  3>  No.  3,  p.  287 


5s96  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.  20. 

so  it  is  as  well  to  state  here  that  it  does  nothing  of  the 
kind.  Mere  arbitrary  divorce  is  very  rare.  Permanent 
attachment  is  the  rule.”  Sir  T.  Muthuswamy  Ayyar 
observes  in  his  Memorandum,  “The  basis  on  which 
the  duration  of  the  marital  union  rests  is  that  the 
couple  should  get  on  together  well,  and  that,  if  they 
fail,  it  must  cease.  Hence  the  husband  or  the  wife 
may,  in  theory,  divorce  the  other  at  will.  But,  in 
practice,  neither  does  so,  except  for  a  cause  which 
commends  itself  to  his  or  her  family  and  to  the  society 
in  which  they  move.  Arbitrary  divorces  appear  to  be 
rare.”1 

Inheritance  and  succession .  The  joint  family 
system  of  Malabar  of  course  involves  descent  of  property 
in  the  female  line.  The  basis  of  the  system  is  that  the 
tarawsd  estate  is  held  in  trust  for  the  support  of  the 
females  and  their  descendants  in  the  female  line.  The 
property  is  impartible  and  the  family  indissoluble  ex¬ 
cept  by  consent  of  all  its  members,  “As  in  all  Hindu 
Law,”  observes  Mr.  -  Justice  Holloway,  “so  in  the 
archaic  form  of  it  which  exists  in  Malabar,  the  first 
conception  of  a  family  is  of  an  indissoluble  unit,  a  mere 
aggregate  with  no  separate  rights,  living  under  one 
head,  united  more  especially  by  their  connection  with 
the  same  sacra"*  And  Mr.  Mayne,  in  his  Hindu 
Law>  observes: — “In  Malabar  and  Canara,  at  the  present 
day  no  right  of  partition  exists.  In  some  cases,  when 
the  family  has  become  very  numerous,  and  owns  pro¬ 
perty  in  different  districts,  the  different  branches  have 
split  into  distinct  tarwads,  and  become  permanently 
separated  in  estate.  But  this  can  only  be  done  by  com¬ 
mon  consent.  No  one  member,  nor  even  all  but  one, 
can  enforce  a  division  upon  any  who  object.”  Again, 
“In  Malabar  and  Canara,  where  the  property  is 
soluble,  the  members  of  the  family  may  be  said  rather 
to  have  rights  out  of  the  property  than  rights  to  the 
property.” 


1.  Para  16,  VII. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  297 

Under  such  a  system  no  question  of  inheritance 
can  arise  except  in  the  case  of  the  separate  property  of 
an  extinct  divided  branch,  or  the  self-acquired  proper¬ 
ty  of  a  junior  member,  which  he  has  left  undisposed  of 
at  his  death,  in  which  case  the  Karanavan  takes  it  by 
inheritance  on  behalf  of  himself  and  the  other  members 
of  the  Tarwad  to  which  he  belongs. 

The  senior  male  member  is  by  law  the  Karanavanv 
and  notwithstanding  the  theory  that  the  Tarwad  pro¬ 
perty  is  vested  in  the  females,  he  is  as  such  entitled  to 
its  entire  possession,  and  is  absolute  in  its  management.1 
His  powers  of  management  may,  however,  be  limited 
by  contract,2  and  he  may  delegate  it,  but,  so  as  not  to 
introduce  a  stranger.3  He  is  the  natural  guardian  of 
every  member  within  the  family.4  The  office  is  not  one 
conferred  by  trust  or  contract,  but  is  the  offspring  of 
his  natural  conditions  Till  recently  it  was  held  that 
he  could  not  renounce  his  right  to  his  karanavanship, 
because  it  was  thought  that  karanavanship,  as  recog¬ 
nised  in  Malabar,  is  a  birthright  inherent  in  one’s 
status  as  the  senior  male  member  of  a  Tarwad.  He 
could  not  renounce  it  as  it  was  the  result  of  his  natural 
condition.6  This  theory  is  however  now  exploded,  for 
he  could  i  now  renounce  his  right  of  management.7 
Prima  facie  he  is  the  only  person  who  can  represent 
the  family  in  suits.  “A  Malabar  family  speaks  through 
its  head  and  in  courts  of  justice,  except  in  antagonism 
to  that  head,  can  speak  in  no  other  way.”  It  is  his  right 
and  duty  to  manage  alone  the  property  of  the  Tarwad, 
to  take  care  of  it  and  to  invest  it  in  his  own  name  (if  it 
be  movable),  either  on  loans  on  Kanam  or  other  secur¬ 
ity,  or  by  purchasing  in  his  own  name  lands,  and  to 

i*  I.  L.  R.  2  Madras  328. 

2.  _  I.  L.  R,  8  Madras  381. 

3.  I,  L.  R,  12  Madras  219. 

4.  7  M.  II.  C.  R.  179. 

5.  I.  L.  R.  1  Madras  153. 

6.  C.  M.  II.  C.  R.  145, 

7.  I,  L.  R,  28  Madras  182. 


AL 


298  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

receive  the  rent  of  the  land.  He  can  also  grant  the 
land  on  Kanam  by  his  own  act  or  on  otti  mortgage.  He 
is  not  accountable  to  any  member  of  the  Tarwad  in 
respect  of  the  income  of  it,  nor  can  a  suit  be  maintain¬ 
ed  for  account  in  the  absence  of  fraud  on  his  part.  He 
may  be  removed  by  suit  for  mala  tides  in  his  acts,  or 
for  incompetency  to  manage,  and  for  other  causes  such 
as  physical  and  mental  disabilities  incapacitating  him 
from  transacting  Tarwad  affairs,  etc.  He  is  interested 
in  the  property  of  the  Tarwad  as  a  member  of  it  to  the 
same  extent  as  each  of  the  other  members.  All  the 
members,  including  the  Karanavan,  are  entitled  to 
maintenance  out  of  Tarwad  property.1  His  powers  of 
alienation  are  restricted-  Alienations  by  a  Karanavan, 
whether  in  the  form  of  gifts,  sales  or  mortgages,  are  in¬ 
valid,  unless  made  with  the  assent,  express  or  implied, 
of  junior  members.2 

The  main  rights  ol  the  junior  members  are: — (1) 
a  right  of  succession,  in  order  of  seniority,  to  the 
management  of  the  Tarwad  as  Karanavan;  (2)  right 
of  maintenance  by  the  Karanavan  out  of  the  Tarwad 
property;  (3)  the  right  to  object  to  any  improper 
administration  of  the  Tarwad  property  by  the  Karana¬ 
van,  and  to  see  that  the  property  is  duly  conserved  for 
the  use  of  the  Tarwad.3 

Of  late  a  species  of  property  known  as  Put  hr  a* 
vakasam  has  sprung  into  existence.  It  means  proper¬ 
ty  given  by  way  of  gift  by  a  man  to  his  wife  and  child¬ 
ren,  either  in  the  name  of  all  of  them,  or  in  that  of  one 
only.  With  regard  to  such  property  it  has  been  held 
that  it  does  not  lapse  to  the  main  T arwad  on  the  death 
of  the  person  in  whose  name  it  stands,  but  that  it 
would  do  so  after  all  the  beneficiaries  have  passed 
away.  But  it  has  at  the  same  time  been  held  that  they 

1.  I.  L,  R.  2.  Madras  328. 

2.  1  M.  H.  C.  R.  248. 

3.  18  Travancore  L.  R.  31* 


'  Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  299 

have  no  individual  rights  in  such  property,  unless  the 
grant  expressly  directs  it,  and  that  all  the  donees  take 
it  in  a  body,  they  being  but  joint  tenants  and  not  ten¬ 
ants  in  common.1 

Testamentary  power .  Doubts  have  been  expressed 
as  to  whether  a  member  of  a  Malabar  Tarwad  had 
power  to  devise  property  acquired  by  him,  though  the 
power  of  making  wills  was  at  one  time  thought  to  be 
inherent  in  the  followers  of  Marumakkathayam  under 
the  customary  law  of  the  country.2  So  far  back  as  1843, 
Mr.  Strange  as  Judge  of  the  Provincial  Court  held  that 
a  Marumakkathayi  had  the  power  and  his  view  was  up¬ 
held  by  the  Sadar  Court.  The  point  is  now  set  at  rest 
by  the  passing  of  Madras  Act  V  of  1898  which 
declared  that  every  person  governed  by  the  Marumak¬ 
kathayam  Law  of  inheritance  may  by  will  dispose  of 
property  which  he  could  legally  alienate  by  gift  iner 
vivos .  A  Regulation  passed  by  the  Travancore  State 
enables  all  Hindus  in  that  State  to  dispose  of  by  will 
half  of  their  own  self-acquisition,  and  under  the  recent 
Nair  Regulation,  the  Nairs  are  empowered  to  dispose 
of  by  will  the  whole  of  their  self-acquired  or  separate 
property.  So  is  the  case  in  Cochin.  In  both  the  States, 
even  before  the  passing  of  the  respective  Nair  Regu¬ 
lations,  this  right  was  in  existence.  Even  before 
the  passing  of  the  Wills  Act,  the  Madras  High  Court 
had  held  that  the  last  surviving  member  of  a  Malabar 
Tarwad  could  make  a  valid  testamentary  disposition 
of  not  simply  self-acquired  property,  but  also  of  Tar- 
wad  property.3 

Adoption .  When  a  Nair  family  stands  the  chance 
of  becoming  extinct,  the  lineage  is  kept  up  by  means 
of  adoption  or  rather  affiliation.  Such  adoptions  or 

1.  I.  L.  R.  16  Madras  201, 

2.  See  the  fifth  Report  oi  the  Select  Committee  of  the 

House  of  Commons  on  the  affairs  of  the  East  India 
Company  1812,  p  133. 

3.  I.  L#  Ra  52  Madras  p.  9. 


300  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L-  20 

affiliations  are  also  made  for  other  purposes.  There 
is  in  the  earlier  Reports  an  almost  complete  absence 
of  mention  of  cases  of  adoption  among  Nairs.  The 
earliest  case  to  be  found  is  one  of  1808,  and  it  has 
been  doubted  if  adoptions  were  not  of  recent  growth, 
Mr.  Holloway  as  Judge  of  Tellicherry,  spoke  of  the 
“singular  and  unheard  of  process  of  Nair  adoption” 
in  1858,  and  in  1861  the  same  learned  Judge  went  to 
the  extent  of  speaking  of  the  ‘“ludicrous  absurdity  of 
adopting  a  nephew.”  These  remarks  only  show  how 
meagrely  equipped  the  learned  Judge  was  with  regard 
to  the  customs  and  observances  of  the  Marumakka- 
thayam  Malayalees,  and  it  was  Mr,  Justice  Holloway 
as  Judge  of  the  High  Court  of  Madras,  who  laid  the 
foundations  of  Malabar  Law  as  at  present  applied  to 
the  people  by  judicial  tribunals.  It  may  be  asserted 
without  any  fear  of  contradiction  that  adoption  is  con¬ 
sistent  with  Malabar  usage,  and  that,  so  far  as  exist¬ 
ing  records  go»  the  Royal  families  of  Cochin  and 
Travancore  would  have  long  ago  become  extinct  but 
for  the  adoption  of  females  to  perpetuate  the  succes¬ 
sion.  In  Cochin  we  have  records  to  show  of  successive 
adoptions  of  both  females  and  males  in  the  16th  and 
17th  centuries,  and  in  Travancore  the  earliest  adoption 
of  which  we  have  records  at  present  is  that  o£  the 
14th  century- 

The  adoption  of  nephews  by  Nairs  was  a  matter  of 
constant  occurrence  dating  back  to  centuries  on  cen¬ 
turies.1 

“In  the  event  of  the  failure  of  rightful  heirs”  says 
Sheik  Zeen-ud-deen  writing  in  the  16th  century*,  “or 
of  any  scarcity  of  them,  they  (the  Malayalees)  make 
choice  of  a  stranger  (provided  he  be  a  person  ad¬ 
vanced  in  age)  to  succeed,  instead  of  the  son,  or 

1  I.  L.  R.  12  Madras  p*  126, 

2,  See  Hough’s  History  of  Christianity  in  India  Vol.  if 

P#  109, 


Introd.1 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


301 


brother,  or  nephew;  and  after  this  adoption  they  make 
no  distinction  between  him  and  a  lawful  heir.  And 
this  custom  prevails  with  all  the  pagans  of  Malabar, 
whether  in  the  succession  to  kingdoms  and  high  dig¬ 
nities,  or  to  the  most  inconsiderable  patrimonies;  a 
perpetuity  of  heirs  being  thus  secured  to  them*”* 
A  fee  levied  on  the  grant  of  sanction  to  adopt  by  the 
ruling  power  has  been  a  source  of  revenue  in  Malabar 
for  time  out  of  mind.2  A  summary  of  the  law  and 
custom  as  to  adoptions  prevailing  in  Travancore  may 
be  extracted  from  the  Travancore  High  Court 
Reports.3 

“The  object  of  adoption  among  the  Sudras  is 
purely  secular,  being  either  the  perpetuation  of  the 
Tarwad  and  the  conservation  of  its  endowments,  or 
else  its  advancement  ih  the  social  scale,  this  last  being 
known  as  Jathi  Sreshtatha  adoption.  It  is  the  case  that 
Sudra  adoption  has  some  resemblance  to  the  Krithrima 
form  of  adoption  recognised  by  the  Hindu  Law;  that 
there  are  three  kinds  of  adoption  among  the  /Sudras, 
namely,  of  a  whole  family,  of  a  few  females,  and  of  a 
few  males  and  females;  that  there  is  no  limit  of  age  or 
number;  that,  generally,  the  parties  should  be  of  the 
same  caste;  that  in  Travancore,  the  adoption  of  a  per¬ 
son  of  a  lower  order  into  a  higher  order  is  permissible; 
and  that  the  confirmation  by  a  Royal  Neet,  issued  upon 
payment  of  Adiara  fees,  is  necessary  to  confer  validity 
on  adoption.” 

“Where  one  or  more  members  only  of  the  Tarwad, 
and  not  the  entire  family,  are  adopted  into  a  new  one, 
the  adoptees  forfeit  their’ rights  in  their  natural  fami¬ 
ly  in  the  absence  of  special  reservation  to  the  contrary; 
but  if  the  adoption  be  wholesale,  the  adoptees  retain 
their  full  rights  in  their  old  family,  though  they  may 
acquire  new  rights  in  the  new  Tarwad;  the  properties 

1.  Tohfut-ul-Mujahideen  p.  66. 

2.  Selections  from  the  Asiatic  Journal  Vol,  II,  p,  66i» 

3.  Vol.  II,  p,  666—7. 


302  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

of  the  adoptees  held  in  their  own  right  should  be  view¬ 
ed  as  separate  or  self-acquired  property;  the  adoptive 
Karanavan  can  have  no  more  right  over  the  property 
of  his  adoptive  Seshakars  than  the  natural  *  Karanavan 
over  that  of  his  natural  Seshakars;  and  the  Royal  Neet 
was  not  intended  to  confer  upon  his  adoptive  Kara¬ 
navan  any  rights  in  the  natural  Tarwad  of  his  adopt¬ 
ive  Seshakars.” 

uThe  Adiyara  fees  are,  as  a  rule,  to  be  paid  by  the 
Tarwad  of  the  adoptee  or  adoptees.  Where  the  adop¬ 
tion  is  of  one’s  own  children — which  is  preferred — the 
Adiyara  fee  is  to  be  equal  to  one-third  of  ' the  gross 
value  of  the  property  of  the  adopter,  but  where  those 
to  be  adopted  belong  to  a  strange  Tarwad,  the  fee  is  to 
be  equal  to  one-half  of  the  adoptee’s  property;  and  some¬ 
times  an  extra  fee  is  levied  when  the  parties  are  not  of 
the  same  grade”. 

The  law  will  not  be  found  to  differ  much  in  other 
parts  of  Malabar. 

It  may  seem  strange,  but  none  the  less  it  is  true, 
that  the  law  as  administered  in  Malabar  by  the.  courts 
is  different  from  the  law  as  observed  by  the  people.  In 
Malabar  there  is  no  express  or  written  law;  neither  is 
there  any  written  record  of  customs.  Instead  of  en¬ 
quiring  as  to  what  the  custom  or  usage  was  with  regard 
to  any  particular  question  coming  before  them,  the 
earlier  judges  plunged  headlong  into  a  discussion  of 
theories  arguing  them  out  to  their  logical  conclusion. 
They  seem  to  have  aimed  more  at  the  attainment  of 
logical  perfection  with  regard  to  abstract  theories  than 
to  the  ascertainment  of  facts  as  they  existed  in  the  con¬ 
crete.  In  courts  of  law  impartibility  of  family  property 
is  the  rule  prescribed,  and  the  family  itself  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  indivisible;  and  yet,  in  daily  life,  there  is 
scarcely  any  family  in  the  country  whose  means  could 
afford  to  do  so  that  has  not  divided  itself  and  partition¬ 
ed  its  property.  So  early  as  1810,  the  Provincial  Court 
of  the  Western  Division  decided  in  favour  of  partibility* 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  303 

The  native  judges,  who  may  be  presumed  to  be  conver¬ 
sant  with  the  customs  and  habits  of  their  brethren,  were 
invariably  inclined  to  favour  the  view.  But  with  the 
highest  court  of  appeal  the  necessity  to  “consistently 
carry  out  the  doctrine  that  all  rights  to  property  are 
derived  from  females”,  stood  in  the  way  of  admitting 
the  right  of  an  individual  to  demand  his  share.  This  is 
accentuated  by  the  observations  of  Mr.  Justice  Holloway 
in  Munda  Chetty  v.  Timmaju  Hensu •  “Decisions 
dividing  family  property  have  also  been  passed  in 
Malabar,  and  it  is  one  of  the  claims  of  our  late  col¬ 
league,  Mr.  Justice  Strange,  upon  that  respect  which  we 
all  feel  for  him,  that  he  successfully  resisted  the  attempts 
of  lower  courts,  also  acting  upon  their  own  views  of 
expediency,  to  introduce  foreign  admixtures  into  a  law 
of  which,  whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  policy,  none 
can  deny  the  consistency  with  the  theory  upon  which 
it  is  based”.1 

To  Mr.  Justice  Holloway,  as  we  have  found,  a 
Nair  adoption  was  “a  singular  and  unheard  of  process;” 
and  the  adoption  of  a  nephew  a  “ludicrous  absurdity”, 
and  yet  adoption  is  a  matter  of  daily  practice  and  has 
been  so  for  a  long  time,  and  is  at  present  recognised  by 
courts. 

With  regard  to  marriage,  we  have  shown  by  what 
process  of  reasoning  the  Malabar  Marriage  Commission 
came  to  the  extraordinary  conclusion  that  the  institu¬ 
tion  of  marriage  was,  and  is,  entirely  absent  from  the 
Marumakkathayam  system.  The  Madras  High  Court 
could  not  give  legal  recognition  to  such  cohabitation  as 
obtains  in  Malabar  under  Sambandham  union,  because 
“itfounds  upon  it  no  rights  of  property  or  inheritance”.- 
And  what  is  more  extraordinary  still  is  the  observation 
of  their  Lordships  of  the  Privy  Council  coming  as  it 
does  after  the  report  of  the  Marriage  Commission  that 

X,  i  M«  H.  C.  R.  p.  380. 

2.  I.  L.  R.  6  Mad.  374* 


304  LETTERS  FROM.  MALABAR  |L,  20. 

‘‘the  Nairs  are  persons  amongst  whom  polyandry  is 
legally  recognised,”  a  statement,  the  correctness  of 
which  is,  to  put  it  mildly,  in  its  naked  form,  open 
to  considerable  doubt. 

So  also  with  respect  to  the  separate  and  self-acquir¬ 
ed  property  of  an  individual  member  left  undisposed  of 
at  his  death.  The  courts  held  till  but  recently  that  it 
lapses  to  the  family.  The  usage  amongst  the  people 
is  that  such  property  goes  to  the  nearest  kin  of  the 
deceased  acquirer. 

The  result  of  this  theorising  and  speculation  is  that 
the  progress  of  the  community  is  arrested  in  ail  direc¬ 
tions.  It  is  the  common  experience  of  all  that  compul¬ 
sory  non-division  by  no  means  helps  the  economical 
or  social  progress  of  the  people.  The  non-recogni¬ 
tion  of  individual  rights  in  the  members  of  the  family 
and  its  corollary,  the  doctrine  of  lapse  regarding  sepa¬ 
rate  and  self-acquired  property,  act  as  a  dead  weight 
retarding  industrial  advancement.  There  is  always  a 
conflict  between  inclination  and  duty  in  the  minds  of 
the  members  of  a  Tarvvad,  and  most  prominently  in 
that  of  the  Karanavan  or  manager.  The  junior  members 
do  not  feel  any  responsibility  for,  till  they  are  called  on 
to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  Tar  wad  in  their  turn 
as  Karanavan,  they  have  only  the  right  of  bare  main, 
tenance  in  the  Tarvvad  house,  however  rich  the  estate 
may  be.  It  is  not  incumbent  on  the  Karanavan  to 
educate  them,  much  less  to  start  them  in  life.1  Secure  of 
their  means  of  subsistence,  they  become  the  drones  of  the 
family,  scarcely  fit  to  assume  management  when  their 
time  comes.  Consequently  the  family  property  falls 
into  the  hands  of  incompetent  managers  who  allow  it  to 
go  to  rack  and  ruin.  In  the  onward  march  of  time  the 
conditions  of  society  have  considerably  changed.  New 
ideas  have  been  infused  and  new  forms  have  taken  root. 
The  joint  family  system  has  loosened  its  hold  on  the 
people,  and  the  desire  to  possess  individual  rights  in 

z.  8  Mad,  Law  Journal,  p«  2 94. 


Introd.j  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  305 

property  is  steadily  gaining  ground.  In  fact  Malabar 
society  has  left  its  old  moorings,  and  it  is  undoubtedly 
the  duty  of  judicial  tribunals,  so  far  as  lies  in  their 
power,  not  to  allow  it  to  drift  for  itself  and  work  its 
own  salvation,  but  to  guide  and  pilot  it  to  a  safe 
haven. 

The  law  of  property  in  Malabar  being  based  alto¬ 
gether  on  usage,  it  would  have  been  well  if  the  judges 
who  administered  that  law  had  allowed  more  weight  to 
the  views  and  wishes  of  the  people  as  manifested  by 
usage  than  to  their  own  notions  of  a  perfect  system  of 
Marumakkathayam  Law  which  is  nowhere  expounded 
in  writing.  In  this  connection  I  am  tempted  to  repeat 
the  observations  already  made  that  public  opinion  is 
everywhere  and  at  all  times  the  source  of  all  law,  mean¬ 
ing  private  law,  and  custom  is  the  most  concrete  ex- 
pression  of  public  opinion,  and  it  is  through  judicial 
recognition  that  custom  becomes  incorporated  with  the 
law  of  a  country  where  it  prevails.  No  political  legis¬ 
lation  is  needed  to  legalise  custom,  and  mere  judicial 
sanction  is  enough.  Where  the  law  is  unwritten,  judi¬ 
cial  legislation  can  give  legal  effect  to  notions  which 
have  a  prevailing  preponderance  in  the  community.  .In 
Malabar  the  law  is  unwritten.  The  observations  of 
Chief  Justice  Cockburn  in  Wason  v.  Watters ,  already 
quoted,  regarding  the  advantages  of  a  system  of  unwrit¬ 
ten  law  which  gives  scope  for  judicial  legislature  apply 

with  great  force  to  Malabar. 

# 

It  is  evident  from  the  observations  made  above 
that  the  beneficial  growth  of  customary  law  in  Malabar 
to  suit  the  necessities  of  a  progressive  and  advancing 
society  has  been  unfortunately  arrested  by  courts  of  law 
that  were  and  are  not  altogether  well  informed  as  to  the 
conditions  of  the  society  to  which  the  law  applied. 

Birth  :  *  Ante-Natal  and  other  ceremonies .  The 
first  ceremony  generally  observed,  specially  among 

AM. 


306  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20, 

women  of  the  higher  and  well-to-do  classes,  is  that  of 
Bhajanam .  This  may  last  for  7  or  12  days,  and  is 
observed  in  the  7th  month  of  pregnancy.  It  is  a  sort  of 
penance.  The  pregnant  woman  bathes  and  worships 
in  the  temple  every  morning,  and  keeps  on  circumambu¬ 
lating  the  shrine  till  the  mid-day  Puja  is  over,  partakes 
of  a  small  quantity  of  butter  over  which  the  temple 
priest  has  muttered'  holy  mantrams,  returns  home  and 
has  her  breakfast.  She  is  during  the  period  holy,  does 
not  touch  any  one,  even  those  of  the  household,  because, 
if  she  does  so,  she  has  to  take  a  dip  bath  before  she  can 
eat.  In  the  evening  also  she  attends  the  temple,  takes 
her  rounds,  and  performs  her  worship.  At  the  end  of 
the  period,  a  ceremony  is  performed  in  the  temple  at 
which  offerings  of  various  kinds  are  made.  Even  after 
the  Bhajanam  is  over,  till  delivery,  the  pregnant  woman 
continues  the  worship  in  the  temple.  It  will  be  observed 
that  this  gives  her  very  good  physical  exercise  of  a 
mild  character. 

Pulikutu  This  is  performed  in  the  9th  month  and 
is  a  ceremony  which  can  on  no  account  be  dispensed 
with.  The  day  and  the  hour  are  fixed  by  the  village 
astrologer.  A  twig  of  the  Ampalam  ( Spondias  Mangle* 
fera)  tree  is  planted  in  the  Natumuttfam,  (middle 
courtyard,)  on  the  morning  of  the  day.  At  the  aus¬ 
picious  hour  the  pregnant  woman,  after  having 
bathed  and  attired  herself  in  a  set  of  new  un¬ 
bleached  cloths,  sits  facing  eastward  in  a  particular 
portion  of  the  house  (Vatakini  or  northern  wing. )  The 
Amm5yi,  i.  e .,  the  maternal  uncle’s  wife,  goes  and  plucks 
a  few  leaves  from  the  planted  twig  and  squeezes  a  few 
drops  of  its  juice  into  a  cup  and  hands  it  over  to  the 
woman’s  brother,  or  as  in  some  parts  to  her  husband, 
who  drops  the  juice  into  the  mouth  of  the  woman  with 
his  right  hand  over  which  is  held  a  country  knife  (pi$- 
Sankatji)  which  he  grasps  in  his  left  hand.  This  he 
does  three  times,  and  the  woman drinks  the  juice.  It 
is  essential  that  either  the  knife  should  have  a  gold 
handle  or  that  the  brother  should  wear  a  gold  ring  on 


Introd/J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  307 

his  right  hand  ring-finger.  In  the  absence  of  a  brother, 
some  near  relation  may  officiate.  In  South  Travancore, 
it  is  a  Maran  who  officiates  in  the  absence  of  a  brother, 
and  the  woman  is  made  to  stand  on  a  plank  facing 
the  east.  After  she  has  swallowed  the  juice,  a  test 
is  applied  to  ascertain  the  sex  of  the  child  in  the 
womb.  Packets  of  grains  of  different  sorts  are  placed 
before  the  woman  and  she  is  asked  to  select  one  of 
these,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  selected  packet 
will  indicate  the  sex  of  the  child.  As  an  adjunct  to  the 
ceremony,  a  sumptuous  feast  is  given  to  the  friends 
and  relatives  of  the  family  who  have  been  invited  for 
the  occasion.  The  whole  expense  has  to  be  borne  by 
the  husband.  On  the  evening  some  perform  a  sort  of 
exorcism  called  Bali  Uliyal  as  a  safeguard  against 
evil  eyes. 

Delivery .  A  barber  women  officiates  as  midwife 
at  the  delivery.  The  pregnant  woman  is  taken  to  a 
room,  known  as  confinement  room,  set  apart  for  the 
purpose, — generally  a  small,  dark  ill-ventilated  one.  She 
is  attended  by  her  elderly  female  relatives.  The  mes¬ 
senger  who  goes  to  fetch  the  midwife  has  to  take  with 
him  a  knife,  and  should,  so  far  as  possible,  be  accom¬ 
panied  by  some  one  else.  This  is  to  avoid  the  contin¬ 
gency  of  evil  spirits  decoying  the  messenger  and 
turning  themselves  into  the  form  of  the  midwife  and 
devouring  the  foetus  or  the  new-born  babe  and  doing 
injury  to  the  mother.  The  midwife,  as  soon  as  she 
comes,  rubs  the  abdomen  of  the  patient  with  medicated 
or  simple  gingelly  oil,  which  is  followed  by  a  hot  water 
fomentation.  She  is  made  to  walk  about  the  room  for 
some  time,  and  is  then  made  to  sit  on  a  footstool  or  on 
a  low  wooden  bench  ( Kottolam )  in  a  reclining  position 
her  back  supported  by  a  companion,  generally  an  old 
woman.  Lying  on  her  back  her  head  is  raised  and  the 
thighs  are  stretched  wide  apart.  She  is  often  made  to 
hold  herself  on  to  a  rope  tied  to  a  beam  of  the  room. 
The  midwife  sits  in  front  facing  her*  ready  to  receive 


308  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

the  child.  A  doctor  versed  in  European  methods  of 
treatment  is  the  last  person  to  be  called  in.  All  sorts 
pf  expedients  possible  are  resorted  to  before  this  is 
done.  If  the  labour  is  protracted  and  the  pain  is  severe, 
it  is  so  because  the  patient  is  possessed,  and  the  village 
astrologer  with  his  companion  the  sorcerer  is  called 
in.  Expiatory  ceremonies  and  propitiatory  offerings 
follow.  Charms  are  tied  to  the  person  of  the  patient. 
If  the  delivery  is  complicated  by  the  presentation 
of  an  arm  or  a  leg  of  the  babe.it  is  pushed  in,  or 
hot  splinter  or  a  pointed  pin  is  used  in  expectation  of 
its  being  drawn  in,  as  at  sometimes  happens.  When 
all  expedients  fail,  a  doctor  is  sent  for.  Soon  after  the 
delivery  of  the  placenta,  the  umbilical  cord,  iheasured 
generally  up  to  the  chin  of  the  child,  is  cut  and  tied  with 
a  few  strips  of  an  alkaline  fibre  called  India .  The 
mother  and  child  are  bathed  sometimes  in  warm  water. 
The  child  is  placed  on  the  bare  floor  and  the  father  or 
another  relative  sprinkles  on  it  some  cold  water  or 
water, of  a  tender  cocoanufe  with  a  gold  ring.  It  is 
believed  that  the  temperament  of  the  child  is  determined 
by  that  of  the  person  who  does  it.  The  mother, and  the 
other  members  of  the  family  observe  pollution  for  a 
period  of  fifteen  days.  On  the  fifteenth  day,  the  Chee* 
thikan  or  Attikurussi  sprinkles  on  the  woman  a  liquid 
mixture  composed  of  the  five  products  of  the  cow 
( Panchagavyam )  to  which  gingelly  oil  is  added,  and  the 
VClafti  (low  class  washerman)  purifies  all  clothing  by 
sprinkling  on  it  a  mixture  of  ashes  and  water.  The 
VSlaJti  also  supplies  cloth  washed  by  her  for  wear  be¬ 
fore  the  purificatory  bath.  The  delivered  woman  then 
takes  a  plunge  bath  in  a  tank  or  river,  after  which  she  i9 
purified.  The  other  members  of  the  Tar  wad  need  only 
bathe  themselves  to  be  purified.  During  these  15  days, 
none  of  them  can  enter  the  inner  precincts  of  a 
temple. 

Treatment .  High  caste  patients  generally  bathe 
in  warm  or  cold  water  immediately  after  delivery.  The 
mother  is  given  a  decoction  of  Neem  bark,  or  other 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  309 

drugs  and  medicinal  herbs,  mixed  with  jaggery.  From 
the  fourth  day  after  delivery,  the  delivered  woman  begins 
her  regular  bath, but  has  oil  rubbed  all  over  on  the  7th, 
9th,  1 2th,  and  15th  day.  Whenever  she  washes  her 
body,  she  undergoes  a  course  of  shampooing  with  hot 
water  and  green  leaves  of  a  number  of  plants  boiled  in 
the  water.  The  leaves  of  many  hedge  plants  are  plucked 
and  put  into  the  water.  The  boiled  leaves  and  water 
are  supposed  to  possess  medicinal  properties  to  re¬ 
move  any  slight  swelling  or  pain  and  to  promote  free 
circulation.  In  many  cases,  the  women  of  the  village 
undertake  these  soothing  processes  by  turns  as  a  matter 
of  love  and  duty  towards  their  neighbour,  the  midwife 
herself  offers  her  services  in  several  others.  The 
delivered  woman  continues  to  take  native  medicine  for 
varying  periods  of  28,  56  or  90  days.  The  miscella¬ 
neous  group  of  drugs  called  Pefftfumarunnu  (delivery 
medicine)  consists,  among  other  things, of  pepper,  aloes, 
garlic,  cloves,  cardamoms,  cinnamon,  coriander,  and 
anise.  The  native  druggist  has  only  to  be  asked  for 
PStftfumarunnu.  He  knows  it  all.  He  has  learnt  from 
his  father  or  other  relative  the  ingredients  required. 
He  packs  up  a  pinch  of  most  of  the  drugs  in  his  shop* 
and  there  is  the  medicine.  All  these  are  powdered  and 
mixed  up  with  gingelly  oil,  and  a  pretty  large  dose  of 
it  is  taken  twice  a  day  before  meals.  The  Brahman 
midwife  has  her  own  electuary,  the  ingredients  of 
which  correspond  more  or  less  to  the  group  of  drugs 
mentioned  above.  During  the  period,  the  patient  takes 
complete  rest,  and  is  put  on  diet.  She  is  prohibited  from 
drinking  water,  and  complete  abstinence  from  chillies, 
butter-milk,  tamarind,  etc.,  is  rigidly  enforced  during 
the  period  of  convalescence.  Even  the  poorer  classes 
go  through  almost  the  same  course  of  treatment  but 
only  for  a  shorter  period.  Now-a-days,  the  more  well- 
to-do  sections  are  content  with  the  Dhanvanthara  de¬ 
coction  or  some  electuary  prescribed  by  a  native  phy¬ 
sician,  rest  and  diet.  In  towns,  the  hospital  treatment, 
or  English  treatment  as  it  is  called,  is  freely  resorted 


310  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

to,  chiefly  by  the  younger  generation,  in  view  of  the 
liberty  it  allows  as  regard  food,  drink,  etc..1 

First  Birth-day .  This  is  celebrated  on  the  28th 
day  after  birth,  and  is  known  as  Irupatkettu  purannal. 
This  will  be  the  first  recurring  day  of  the  star  under 
which  the  child  was  born.  On  that  day  the  child  is  fed 
with  a  spoonful  or  two  of  milk  with  sugar  and  a  slice 
of  plantain  fruit.  This  is  done  by  the  Karnavan.  In 
some  parts  the  child  receives  its  name  on  this  day.  The 
ceremony  winds  up  as  usual  with  a  feast  to  friends  and 
relatives,  the  necessary  expenses  being  met  by  the 
father  of  the  child. 

Choroon  or  Rice- giving.  This  is  the  first  rice  giving 
to  the  child,  which  is  celebrated  with  great  ceremony 
in  the  6th  month  after  birth.  Till  then  the  child  is  fed 
not  with  rice,  but  with  the  flour  of  dried  plantains 
boiled  with  sugar  or  jaggery.  Mellin’s  food  and  Nestle’s 
food  are  now  frequently  used  by  the  well-to-do  people. 
The  rice-giving  ceremony  is  not  unfrequently  performed 
in  some  temple  of  celebrity.  The  child  is  placed  in  the 
lap  of  its  maternal  uncle  or  father  sitting  facing  the 
fane.  A  plantain  leaf  is  placed  in  front  in  which  boiled 
rice,  which  has  been  previously  offered  to  the  deity  of 
the  temple,  is  served  along  with  tamarind,  salt,  chillies 
and  sugar.  At  the  auspicious  hour  fixed  by  the  village 
astrologer,  the  uncle  or  father,  as  the  case  may  be,  puts 
into  the  mouth  of  the  child  a  mixture  of  tamarind,  salt 
and  chillies,  and  then  some  rice,  and  lastly  a  little  sugar. 
If  the  child  has  not  already  been  named,  the  father  or 
uncle  calls  the  child  by  its  proposed  name  three  times 
in  its  ear.  After  this  the  child  is  fed  with  rice,  the 
staple  food  of  the  Ngyars,  Till  then  the  child  is  not 
adorned  with  ornaments  of  any  sort.  But  just  before 
the  rice  is  given3  it  is  decked  with  ornaments  provided 
by  the  father  and  the  bandhus  (relatives).  It  is  indis¬ 
pensable  that  the  bandhus,  especially  the  AmmSyi  (the 
maternal  uncle’s  wife),  should  adorn  the  child  with 


i.  Cochin  Census  Report  ^  p,  222, 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  3H 

bracelets,  rings,  necklaces,  etc.  Till  the  first  rice-giv¬ 
ing,  the  child  is  given  a  sort  of  medicinal  preparation 
[consisting  of  Vayambu  (Acorns  calamus),  Eloeoearpus 
lanceolatwsi  gallnuts,  coral,  gold,  and  silver. 

The  succeeding  ceremonies,  such  as  the  boring 
of  the  ears,  which  is  done  either  at  the  end  of  the  year 
or  sometimes  later,  the  first  cutting  of  the  hair,  initiation 
into  letters,  etc.,  are  all  of  minor  importance.  It  will 
have  been  observed  that  all  the  ceremonies  observed 
by  the  twice-born  are  also  observed  by  the  N^yars,  but, 
with  this  important  difference,  all  have  to  be  performed 
without  the  recitation  of  mantras. 

t 

First  Menses .  When  a  girl  attains  maturity, 
there  is  regular  festivity  for  full  four  days.  This  is 
called  Tirantukuii,  i.  e.,  bath  after  first  menses.  When 
the  fact  is  known,  the  girl  is  accommodated  in  a  room 
where  a  brass  lamp  will  be  kept  burning,  and  which 
will  be  decorated  by  a  pot  with  a  bunch  of  cocoanut 
flowers.  She  holds  in  her  hand  a  V^lkannSti,  i.  e •,  a 
looking  glass,  with  a  handle,  wrought  of  bell-metal. 
She  is  visited  by  the  females  of  the  neighbourhood  as 
also  by  relatives,  the  latter  presenting  her  with  elegant 
new  cloths.  On  the  third  day,  the  Karakksr  or  I)e§a- 
kkar,  i.e .,  the  villagers,  are  invited  to  a  luncheon  of  milk 
and  rice  porridge,  or  Palkanji .  On  the  fourth  day 
comes  on  the  purification.  The  girl  is  anointed  with 
oil  and  decked  with  imitation  ornaments  made  of  the 
tender  leaves  of  the  cocoanut  tree.  In  the  company 
of  a  number  of  young  maidens  she  is  brought  out  of 
the  room  to  an  ornamental  pandal  in  front  of  the  house 
and  seated  there.  Here  the  MannSn  or  Velan  sings 
certain  songs,  after  which  the  party  proceeds  to  a 
tank  to  bathe.  The  girl  wears  a  cloth  washed  by  the 
Velans,  with  which  she  bathes.  After  the  bath  is  over, 
the  Velans  sing  once  more.  In  some  parts  this  bath¬ 
ing  takes  place  in  a  tank  at  a  distance,  and  the  girl, 
decked  in  all  sorts  of  gay  attire  and  covered  with 
iewels,  is  brought  to  her  house  in  procession  with 


312  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

music  and  tom  toms  with  no  end  of  shouting.  In  the 
afternoon,  the  Vglans  have  one  more  turn  of  singing 
their  curious  songs,  this  time  the  last.  The  girl  in 
company  of  female  relatives  and  friends  resorts  to  the 
pandal,  and  the  Velans  sing  standing  at  a  distance.  In 
the  course  of  the  singing,  they  call  on  the  friends  and 
relatives  of  the  girl  to  make  presents  of  cloths,  which 
are  cheerfully  given.  The  Velan  of  course  gets  his 
other  dues  and  perquisites  of  money,  rice,  paddy,  oil, 
betel  leaf,  etc.  The  never-to-be-left-out  feasting 
follows;  the  invited  guests,  and  the  poor  are  sum¬ 
ptuously  entertained  and  with  the  usual  distribution 
ot  pan-supari  the  ceremony  ends.  In  some  parts  the 
last  ceremony  of  the  Velans’  singing  is  put  off  to 
some  other  day.  If  so  put  off,  the  girl  is  prohibited 
from  going  to  temples,  etc.,  till  that  is  over.  '  At  the 
subsequent  monthly  periods,  as  they  recur,  the  Nayar 
woman  confines  herself  for  three  days  to  a  neat  place 
in  a  secluded  corner  of  the  house  where  she  is  not 
likely  to  touch  or  be  touched  by  others.  For  these 
three  days  she  is  prevented  from  wearing  ornaments, 
decking  herself  with  flowers,  using  perfumes,  eye- 
salves,  etc.  She  should  not  touch  anything  in  the 
house.  Food  is  served  ap'art  by  a  female  member -of 
the  family.  The  orthodox  view  is  that  she  should 
neither  clean  her  teeth  nor  bathe  for  these  three  days; 
at  any  rate  she  should  not  do  either  on  the  third  day. 
On  the  fourth  day  she  should  bathe  after  sunrise, 
wearing  a  cloth  supplied  by  a  Ma^sn  or  Velan 
woman. 

Birth-day .  A  Nsyar  celebrates  his  birth-day 
with  joyous  feasting  ;  of  course  only  those  who  can 
afford  to  do  so.  He  bathes  in  the  morning,  worships 
in  the  village  temple,  makes  offerings  to  the  deity  and 
gives  a  sumptuous  feast  to  friends,  relations  and  neigh¬ 
bours.  The  completion  of  one’s  sixtieth  year,  or  as 
it  is  called  Shashtyabdapurtti,  Is  a  great  event  which 
is  attended  with  offerings  to  the  deity,  presents  to 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


313 


Introd.j 

Brahmans,  and  feasting  them,  as  well  as  relatives, 
friends,  etc. 

Death  and  succeeding  ceremonies .  The  ideas 
entertained  by  the  Nayars  as  to  the  terrors  of  death, 
etc.,  are  described  elsewhere.  As  death  approaches, 
relatives  and  friends  gather  round  the  dying  man  and 
watch  him.  Danams,  u  *.,  gifts  to  Brahmans,  con¬ 
sisting  of  two  pieces  of  a  particular  kind  of  cloth  called 
mufi  and  some  money,  varying  from  io  as,  to  3  or  4 
Rs.  representing  the  value  of  a  cow,  per  head,  are 
given  away.  Brahmans  repeat  the  Sahas ranamaip,  or 
the  thousand  names  of  the  God  Vi§hiju  in  the  hearing 
of  the  dying  individual.  At  intervals  the  Ramsyaija 
and  the  Bhagavata  are  read  out  in  a  loud  tone  so  that 
the  dying  being  may  hear.  The  friends  and  relatives 
one  by  one  pour  into  the  mouth  of  the  patient  a  little 
water,,  if  possible  the  water  of  the  sacred  river  Ganges, 
by  means  of  a  Tulasi  leaf,  holding  in  the  hand  a  gold 
ring  or  a  piece  of  gold,  the  idea  being  that  the  water 
should  touch  the  gold  ere  it  enters  the  mouth.  As 
life  departs,  the  Ystra  Danam,  i.  e the  parting  gift,  is 
made.  Certain  brass  vessels,  pieces  of  cloth,  and 
some  money  are  placed  near  the  death-bed,  and  a 
Brahman,  sitting  close  by,  receives  them  from  the 
dying  individual,  his  hands  touching  the  same.  Soon 
after  this,  the  body  is  taken  down  from  the  bed  and 
laid  on  the  floor  before  life  is  altogether  extinct  with 
the  head  placed  towards  the  south.  If  possible,  the 
last  breath  is  spent  on  a  Tulasi  plant.  The  eyes  are 
closed  and  the  corpse  covered  with  a  cloth,  or  a  piece  of 
silk.  The  toes  are  tied  together  with  a  strip  of  cloth.  The 
relatives  go  round  the  body  three  times,  and  prostrate 
at  the  feet.  All  round  the  body,  in  fact  all  along  the 
way  to  the  cremation  ground,  cocoanuts  cut  into  halves 
with  Lights. burning  in  them  are  placed.  Lamps  are 
lighted  where  the  corpse  is  laid.  Of  course  there  is 
loud  wailing.  The  De$akkars  or  villagers  assemble,  for 
it  is  their  function  to  see  the  body  cremated.  A  mango 
tree  is  cut  for  fuel,  and  the  funeral  pyre  is  prepared 

AN. 


314 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L,  20. 


in  the  compound  in  which  the  house  is  situated, 
for  a  Nsyar  is  very  particular  that  his  body  should  be 
burned  in  his  own  ground.  A  small  pit  about  the  size 
of  the  corpse  is  dug,  three  long  pieces  of  the  plantain 
tree\  are  placed  crosswise,  one  at  each  end  and  one  at 
the  middle.  Upon  this  the  pyre  is  raised.  By  the 
time  this  is  prepared,  the  body  will  have  been  removed 
to  the  front  yard  of  the  house,  and  laid  on  a  long  plant¬ 
ain  leaf.  In  some  parts  this  is  done  in  the  Natumitftfam 
or  Central  yard  of  the  house.  Here  it  is  washed  and 
anointed,  and  the  usual  marks  are  made  with  sandal 
paste  and  ashes  and  neatly  clothed.  Some  rice  and  a 
piece  of  gold  are  put  into  the  mouth.  The  body  is 
then  covered  up  with  new  cloths  tied  at  the  ends,  and. 
in  the  middle  with  shreds  torn  from  the  covering  cloth. 
It  is  then  carried  by  the  male  members  of  the  family, 
who  are  junior  to  the  deceased,  to  the  funeral  pyre, 
which  is  always  situated  towards  the  south  of  the  house, 
that  being  the  direction  towards  which  the  souls  of  the 
departed  are  supposed  to  go.  The  corpse  being  placed 
on  the  pyre  with  head  towards  the  south,  the  senior 
anantaravan,  i .  e .,  the  next  one  in  age  after  the  deceas¬ 
ed,  tears  a  piece  of  cloth  from  the  one  with  which  the 
body  is  covered  and  ties  it  round  his  waist.  Some¬ 
times  shreds  torn  from  this  are  distributed  to  the  other 
juniors,  who  have  to  join  the  senior  in  the  ceremonies. 
After  this  the  mourners  place  on  the  pyre  pieces  of  fuel, 
sandalwood,  etc.  In  this  the  sons  of  the  deceased 
man  also  take  part.  The  fuel  is  then  piled  over  the 
body  and  the  w^hole  set  fire  to  by  the  chief  mourner, 
the  senior  anantaravan.  By  the  time  the  body  is 
wholly  consumed,  the  mourners  will  have  gone  to  the 
nearest  tank  and  bathed.  They  return  dripping  and 
perform  Bali  or  oblation  at  the  foot  of  the  pyre.  The 
chief  mourner  brings  a  pot  of  water  wdiich  he  carries 
round  the  pyre  three  times,  another  from  behind  mak¬ 
ing  incisions  in  the  pot  so  that  the  water  may  spill  on 
the  pyre.  On  completing  the  third  round  the  pot  is 
dashed  on  the  ground  close  by  where  the  head  of  the 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


315 


corpse  had  been  placed.  The  oblations  follow  this, 
and  consist  of  raw  rice,  water,  and  gingelly  seeds. 
Some  fire  is  taken  from  the  pyre  with  which  a  heap  of 
paddy  husk,  placed  where  the  head  of  the  corpse  had 
rested  after  removal  from  the  bed,  is  lighted,  this  being 
removed  only  after  Sanchayanam,  or  the  picking  up  of 
the  calcined  remains  from  the  pyre.  The  party  then 
proceed  to  make  the  Udaka  Kriya,  or' libation  of  water, 
a  ceremony  which  has  to  be  repeated  for  seven  days 
continuously.  It  consists  in  dipping  oneself  in  water, 
and  offering  oblations  of  raw  rice,  gingelly  seed,  and 
turmeric  on  a  husked  cocoanut  placed  on  a  stone  at  the 
wafer  edge  of  a  tank.  Three  turns  of  this  have  to  be 
taken  by  each.  The  women  need  not  perform  this. 
After  this  is  over,  the  mourners  bathe  once  more,  and 
return  to  the  front  yard  of  the  house  which  will  have 
been  cleaned  and  smeared  with  cowdung.  Here  a  small 
shed  made  of  green  cocoanut  leaves  is  made,  within 
which  three  pieces  of  green  cocoanut  stalk  are  planted. 
A  tender  cocoanut  with  the  rind  on  it  is  also  placed 
within.  The  Chltikan  or  Attikurissi  who  officiates 

9  9  9 

as  Purohit  or  priest  will  have  prepared  the  necessary 
materials  for  oblation,  viz.,  a  few  grains  of  gingelly, 
some  turmeric,  etc.  The  mourners  boil  or  rather 
half  boil  some  rice  in  a  vessel  placed  on  the  stalks  plant¬ 
ed  in  the  shed — at  any  rate  they  make  a  show  of  this 
here — the  rice  being  actually  boiled  outside.  A 
KurSam,  or  representation  of  the  deceased,  is  made 
and  placed  in  front  of  the  shed,  and  the  oblations  are 
offered  there,  the  Chltikan  or  Chltiyan  giving 
directions  as  to  the  method,  in  which  the  offering  is  to 
be  made.  The  half-boiled  rice  is  made  into  balls  and 
offered.  The  mourners  in  turn  sit  on  their  haunches 
with  the  left  knee  touching  the  ground  while  making 
the  oblations.  They  sit  facing  the  south  and  wear  a 
Pavi{fam  or  ring  made  of  plantain  leaf  twisted  into  a 

peculiar  shape  on  the  ring  finger.  The  women  offer 
sitting  on  their  feet  facing  the  east.  They  offer  the 


•316  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20- 

half  boiled  rice  without  making  them  into  balls. 
When  the  whole  thing  is  over,  the  rice  balls  (pindSs) 
are  gathered  up  and  placed  in  the  open  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  house  at  a  place  which  had  been  previously 
smeared  with  cowdung  for  the  crows  to  feed  on.  If  a 
large  number  of  crows  gather  and  eat  them  up,  the 
maizes  are  supposed  to  be  pleased.  On  the  3rd,  5th  or 
7th  day,  the  Sanchayanam,  or  the  picking  up  of  the 
calcined  bones,  comes  on.  These  are  picked  up  by  the 
mourner,  his  mouth  being  covered  up,  by  means 
of  sticks  cut  from  a  particular  tree  called  Neluku, 
and  gathered  in  a  vessel  made  of  the  green  bark  or 
film  of  the  areca  branch.  .  They  are  washed  in  milk  in 
a  half  burnt  pot,  which  is  buried  in  a  corner  of  the 
yard,  until  they  are  consigned  to  the  Ganges  or  thrown 
into  the  sea  at  Rsmeswaram.  Till  then  a  lamp  is  light¬ 
ed  every  day  over  the  place  where  the  pot  lies  buried. 
The  oblation  ceremony  described  above  is  repeated 
every  morning  till  on  the  15th  day  when  some¬ 
thing  more  elaborate  has  to  be  performed.  On  that 
day  the  death  pollution  ceases,  for  a  Nsyar’s  death 
pollution,  as  prescribed  by  the  Ssstras,  extends 
to  14  complete  days  or  900  Nalikas  or  Indian  hours. 
On  the  15th  day,  the  Chltigar  purifies  the  family  by 
sprinkling  on  its  members  a  mixture  made  up  of  the  five 
products  of  the  cow  to  which  is  added  gingelly  oil. 
After  this  a  plunge  bath  is  taken,  on  return  from  which 
the  mourners  sit  to  have  their  last  turn  with  the 
Chltiyan.  This  day’s  oblations  are  in  a  more  ela¬ 
borate  form,  the  Purohit  taking  his  food  previously 
prepared  by  the  mourners,  while  giving  his  directions 
regarding  the  ceremony.  Lighted  lamps  with  rice, 
paddy,  etc.,  are  placed  at  the  spot.  The  Chltiyan 
has  his  oil  bath  and  is  dressed  in  new  clothes  in  the 
peculiar  style  of  the  Brahmans.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  ceremony,  the  chief  mourner  gathers  the  Piijda  in 
a  bell-metal  vessel,  in  which  a  representation  of  a  Teru 
or  chariot  is  placed  with  lighted  wicks.  He  is  asked 
to  take  the  vessel  in  both  his  hands  and  raise  it  up  to 


introd/]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  317 

the  level  of  his  head  three  times,  the  idea  being  that 
the  spul  of  the  deceased  is  being  sent  up  to  the  heavens 
in  a  chariot.  He  then  carries,  it  to  the  tank  and  going 
waist-deep  throws  it  behind  overhead.  This  ceremony 
is  called  Piridam  Ittu  Kuli  i.  e.>  the  bath  after  deposit¬ 
ing  Pirjdas.  After  this  he  bathes  and  returns  home. 
At  the  threshold  he  is  met  by  a  female  member  of  the 
house  with  A§htamangalvam,  i,  e:>  a  plate  in  which  are 
placed  eight  auspicious  things.  She  throws  some  rice  on 
his  head,  and  makes  a  mark  on  his  forehead  with  lamp 
black.  In  many  parts,  specially  towards  the  north,  it 
is  the  E^angan  (one  of  the  same  clan)  who  takes  the 
place  of  the  Chltiyan  in  many  of  the  details  given 
above.  It  would  seem  that  in  the  north  no  ceremony 
is  observed  between  the  7th  and  14th  day  after  death. 
All  these  15  days  the  chief  mourner  is  always  armed 
with  a  knife  so  that  the  departed  may  not  harm  him 
even  for  any  defects  in  the  performance  of  the  cere¬ 
monies. 

The  1 6th  day  ceremony  or  Pi^dam  or  PatinSru- 
atiyantaram,  is  a  grand  affair.  It  is  the  funeral  repast, 
and  was  perhaps  originally  designed  as  a  compensation 
for  the  trouble  taken  by  the  'villagers,  friends  and 
relatives,  in  getting  the  body  cremated.  After  the 
cremation  is  over  that  day,  in  some  parts,  mostly  in 
the  south,  the  villagers  gather  in  front  of  the  house  and 
place  in  the  yard  the  spades,  axes,  and  other  imple¬ 
ments  used  in  gathering  fuel,  digging  the  pit,  etc. 
The  male  members  of  the  family  go  round  them  three 
times,  after  which  the  company  disperse.  For  the  16th 
day  feast  or  Patinsru,  the  villagers,  friends,  and  rela¬ 
tives  are  invited  to  attend,  and  the  two  latter  from  far 
and  near  make  it  a  point  to  attend.  But,  before  the 
feast,  there  are  other  and  more  important  ceremonies 
to  be  gone  through.  After  the  Chltiyan  or  E^angan, 
as  the  case  may  be,  has  eaten  in  the  house  on  the  15th 
day,  all  may  freely  come  in  and  go  out  without  fear  of 
pollution;  for,  before  that,  any  man  from  outside  coming 


318  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

into  the  house  has  to  take  a  plunge  bath  before  he 
can  eat.  The  Chltiyan  hands  over  the  mourners  to 
the  Eiayatu,  the  regular  Chltiyan  Purohit  of  the 
Nsyars,  a  low  class  Nambutiri  Brahman,  who  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  been  degraded  for  officiating  at  a  NSyar’s 
Sr5<jlha.  In  aristocratic  houses,  it  is  a  Nambutiri  that 
officiates  and  not  an  Eiayatu.  Early  in  the  morning 
of  the  1 6th  day,  five  of  these  Elayafus  perform  Pu$y2- 
ham>  i.  e.,  purify  the  house,  after  which  they  prepare 
for  the  Bali  or  offering  to  the  soul  of  the  deceased. 
Some  raw  rice  is  boiled;  gingelly  seeds,  oil,  curds, 
Kadali  Palam  (a  sort  of  plantain  fruit),  honey,  molas¬ 
ses,  Anjanam  (sulphurate  of  antimony)  are  all  used  at 
the  offering.  Instead  of  the  Tulasi  used  by  the  women, 
the  men  use  the  small  leaves  of  a  plant  called  Cherula. 
A  lamp  (Nilavilakku)  is  lighted  in  front  of  which  is 
placed  a  plantain  leaf  containing  a  few  plantain  fruits 
and  molasses.  A  ( pavah )  measure  of  paddy  and  an 
Edangali  (10  of  which  go  to  ifiake  a  para)  of  rice  with 
a'cocoanut  are  also  placed  in  front  of  the  lamp.  The 
women,  who  have  to  join  in  the  Bali,  sit,  in  a  row 
facing  the  east,  each  having  a  Kindi  or  brass  vessel 
with  a  spout  tilled  with  water  and  a  small  piece  of 
plantain  leaf,  on  which  are  placed  gingelly  seed,  the 
leaves  of  the  Tulasi  plant,  ( Ocymum  sanctum )  sandal 
paste,  and  some  boiled  rice.  At  the  directions  of  the 
Eiayatu,  they  make  libations  of  water,  water  mixed 
with  sandal  paste,  water  mixed  with  gingelly  seed,  offer 
the  'Julasi  leaves  and  finally  make  an  oblation  of  the 
boiled  rice,  all  the  while  wearing  on  the  ring  finger  of 
the  right  hand  a  Pavifram,  ring  of  peculiar  form 
made  of  plantain  leaves.  The  men  make  these  offerings 
in  turn,  the  eldest  leading  the  way,  sitting  on  his  haun¬ 
ches  with  the  left  knee  touching  the  ground  facing  the 
south.  They  wear  their  loin  cloth  in  a  peculiar  fashion 
called  'J'aftutukkal,  have  on  the  ring  finger  of  the 
right  hand  a  Pavifram  made  of  the  Karuka  grass 
( Agnostis  linearis ).  On  the  right  hand  side  is  placed 
on  a  plantain  leaf»  the  materials  already  named.  Two 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  319 

brass  Klridies  or  vessels  filled  with  water  are  placed 

in  front  of  them.  On  the  left  hand  side  is  another 

* 

plantain  leaf  with  the  boiled  rice.  Some  Karuka  grass 
is  spread  in  front  of  the  performer  on  which  the  offer¬ 
ings  are  made.  Libations  of  water,  of  water  mixed 
with  gingelly  seed,  water  mixed  with  sandal  paste  are 
made  3  times  and  5  times  in  turn,  each  of  the  mourners 
has  to  go  through  three  courses.  At  the  third  course, 
the  Pinda  cr  rice  formed  into  balls  is  offered.  In 
forming  the  balls,  milk,  honey,  plantain  fruit,  molasses, 
gingelly  seeds  and  ghee  are  mixed  with  the  rice.  Each 
of  the  mourners  pour  on  the  Pinda  offered  by  him 
gingelly  oil,  Anjanam  (antimony  sulphurate)  mixed  in 
water,  and  curds.  He  also  places  on  it  a  thread.  The 
idea  is  perhaps  that  the  soul  of  the  deceased  is  supplied 
with  all  that  it  wants  in  its  passage  to  the  other  world. 
There  is  yet  another  course  in  which  the  younger 
members  only  touch  the  eldest  while  he  invokes  the 
attention  of  the  manes  of  three  generations  of  his  an¬ 
cestors  in  the  ascending  scale  and  offers  oblations  to 
them.  P'inally  the  soul  of  the  departed  is  assimilated 
by  a  process  of  will  power  with  the  supreme  one,  of 
the  universal  soul,  after  which  the  rice  balls  are  given 
to  the  crows.  The  last  ceremony  is  known  as  Sapi^dl- 
kara^a,  in  which  one  of  the  members,  who  is  to  observe 
Dlksha  cr  penance  for  a  year,  does  not  take  part.  He 
has  to  lead  a  holy  and  abstemious  life  for  one  full  year, 
growing  hair  abstaining  from  flesh,  meat,  sexual  con¬ 
nection,  etc.,  and  continue  performing  Bali  every  day. 

Zeen-ud-deen  notes  this  custom.  He  says  “Upon 
the  death  of  any  great  person  or  near  relative,  as  a 
father  or  mother,  or  elder  brother,  amongst  the  Brah¬ 
mans  of  Malabar  or  of  a  mother,  or  maternal  uncle,  or 
elder  brother,  amongst  the  Nayars,  and  their  connec¬ 
tions,  the  men  of  both  these  castes  will  abstain  for  a 
whole  year  from  associating  with  women  and  from  eat¬ 
ing  animal  food  ;  during  this  time,  also,  neither  shaving 
their  hair,  nor  cutting  their  nails,  but  rigidly  enduring 


320  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

these  and  such  mortifications,  out  of  reverence  to  the 
memory  of  the  dead.”1 

This  sort  of  penance  should  continue  till  the  Mssam, 
or  the  first  annual  ceremony,  when  it  is  concluded, 
the  Eiayatu  officiating  at  the  Bali  as  described  above. 
Gifts  of  money,  cloth,  and  umbrellas,  etc.,  are  made  to 
Elayatus,  and  the  whole  ceremony  is  wound  up  with 
a  grant  feast  to  friends,  relatives,  villagers  and  Brah¬ 
mans.  The  poor  also  receive  their  share.  Ever  after 

this,  there  is  the  Srsdha  or  annual  offer  of  oblations 

9 

made  till  the  Gaya  Sradha  is  performed.  For  this,  one 
has  to  go  on  a  pilgrimage  *to  the  well  known  shrine  of 
Vi§hnup2da  at  Gaya.  Here  Pinda  is  offered  at  the 
foot-print  of  Vishnu,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  Akshaya 
Vata  Vrksha.  At  the  former,  the  soul  of  the  deceased 
is  believed  to  get  absorbed  into  Vishnu,  and  at  the 
latter  the  offerer  is  supposed  to  realise  that  he  has  per¬ 
formed  his  duty  towards  the  departed  by  receiving  at 
the  hands  of  the  GaySvali*  or  Purohit,  Suphalam , 
flowers,  ashes,  etc.  Instead  of  going  to  Gaya  in  North 
India,  the  Malayalees  need  go  only  to  Tiruvallam,  a 
few  miles  South  of  Trivandrum,  which  is  the  place 
assigned  for  them  by  ParaSu  Rama,  for  the  performance 
of  the  last  Sradha. 

9 

The  object  of  the  Sradha  ceremony  is  explained 
by  Professor  Monier  Williams  in  the  following  way: 
“The  Hindus  fancy  that  a  man  has  three  bodies;  and 
sometimes  the  attempt  is  made  to  puzzle  Christian 
preachers  by  catechising  them  on  this  point.  The 
first  is  the  sthula  sarira,  or  gross  body,  which  is  burn¬ 
ed  ;  but  the  soul  quits  with  the  linga  sarira,  or  subtle 
body,  sometimes  described  as  having  the  size  of  the 
thumb,  and  hovering  near  the  former.  The  departed 
spirit  has  now  no  real  body  capable  of  enjoying  or  suf¬ 
fering  anything,  so  that  it  is  restless,  uncomfortable, 
and  impure.  If  funeral  rites  are  not  performed,  it  may 
become  a  foul,  wandering  ghost,  disposed  to  take 

1.  P.  62. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  321 

revenge  for  its  misery  on  all  living  creatures  by  malig¬ 
nant  acts. 

The  object  of  the  SrSdha  is  to  soothe  the  troubled 
spirit  by  libations  of  consecrated  water,  and  to  furnish 
it  with  an  intermediate  body,  by  which  alone  it  can 
obtain  gati,  or  progress  onward  to  other  births,  and 
emancipation.  The  first  pinda  offered  endows  it  with 
the  rudiments  or  basis  of  a  body;  the  next  day  another 
pi^ida  supplies  limbs,  and  so  on.  When  the  soul  receives 
a  complete  body,  it  becomes  a  pitru  (ancestor),  and  is 
held  to  be  a  deva  or  deity,  and  practically  worshipped 
as  such  in  the  SrSdha  ceremonies,  which  continue  to 
accelerate  its  progress  onwards  to  a  temporary  heaven, 
and  then  through  various  stages  to  bliss,  to  final  union 
with  the  supreme”.1 

On  the  day  of  the  death,  the  Bandhus,  i.  e.,  those 
who  are  allied  by  marriage,  bring  Pattinikkari,  i.  e.t 
some  raw  rice,  and  Pataftfukaya,  a  sort  of  plantain  fruit, 
intended  to  be  used  for  the  first  meal  of  the  family  of 
the  deceased.  Condolence  visits  are  made  by  relatives 
(Kannokkukanuka,  seeing  eye  to  eye)  when  they  bring 
with  them  quantities  of  beaten  rice  (aval),  fried  rice 
(malar),  tobacco,  and  plantain  fruits.  In  some  parts 
there  is  a  custom  of  all  those  who  are  related  by  mar¬ 
riage  to  the  JafawSd  of  the  deceased  combining  and 
giving  a  good  feast  to  the  inmates  of  the  house  and  to 
the  neighbours  who  are  invited.  This  feast  is  called 
Patni  Kanji.  In  south  Travancore,  there  is  a  system 
of  mutual  aid,  by  which  all  articles  required  for  the  16th 
day  ceremony  are  supplied  by  the  villagers,  these  being 
in  their  turn  aided  when  the  occasion  comes. 

Amusements  and  recreations .  The  amusements  and 
recreations  described  elsewhere  are  all  participated  in 
by  the  Nayars.  The  Kathakaii  or  Drama  and  the 
Ottam  Tulial  were  favourite  pastimes  till  but  recently. 
Now  they  are  thought  to  be  fit  more  for  the  study  than 
for  the  stage.  Their  place  is  now  taken  up  by  the 

1.  Indian  Antiquary  of  July  1876. 

AO. 


322  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

3$Jstakam  or  Drama  proper.  The  Kathakali  or  Malaya- 
lam  Drama  is  more  than  300  years  old,  and  was  brought 
into  existence  by  the  KottSrakkaray  Raja.  It  was  origi¬ 
nally  known  as  Ramansttam,  as  opposed  to  KrshnSttam, 
designed  and  introduced  by  the  Zamorin.  The  first  was 
so  called  because  the  earliest  theme  theatrically  repre¬ 
sented  dealt  with  the  story  of  Rama,  while  the  latter 
took  its  name  from  the  circumstance  that  it  treated  of 
the  story  of  Krshna.  Both  are  dumb  shows;  the 
characters  representing  by  means  of  signs  made  by  the 
hand,  by  facial  contortions,  and  gestures,  the  story  sung 
in  long  drawn  songs  by  the  BhSgavatar  or  songster 
standing  behind.  These  dramas  are  written  in  mixed 
verse  and  quasi  prose,  slokas  and  padams.  The  claim 
of  the  last  to  be  styled  poetry  is  questionable.  None  the 
less,  both  are  sung  by  the  Bhagavatar.  The  accompani¬ 
ments  of  the  song  are  an  Elattalam  or  a  circular  plate 
of  bell-metal  gong,  on  which  strokes  are  made  with  a 
stick  to  keep  time,  a  muddalam  (a  long  finger  drum),  a 
cheiita  (Kettle  drum),  and  Kaimani  (a  pair  of  small 
circular  bellmetal  pieces').  The  play  lasts  for  8  or  even 
10  hours  in  the  night.  The  characters,  representing 
Kings,  Asuras,  Rakshasas,  monkeys,  birds,  etc.,  put 
on  fantastic  dresses,  paint  their  faces  in  hideous  fashion, 
wear  head  pieces  of  peculiar  make,  each  character  having 
its  own  distinctive  dress  and  appearance.  There  is  a 
very  little  attempt  at  representation  of  scenery.  The 
acting  and  the  actors  literally  act — takes  place  in  a 
pantal  or  shed  in  the  open,  so  that  all  who  may  resort 
to  it  may  see  the  play.  All  the  three  classes  Nambutiris, 
K§hetriyas,  and  Njyars  take  part  in  these  plays.  The 
following  criticism  of  the  Kathakali  by  Mr.  T.  K. 
Krishna  Menon  will  be  found  to  correctly  represent  the 
attitude  of  modern  educated  Malayalees  towards  their 
national  drama. 

“They,  by  means  of  appropriate  gestures,  convey 
to  the  audience  the  meaning  of  the  prose  portions,  when 
they  are  sung  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  beating  of 
drums  and  other  instruments.  No  doubt  some  of  these 


CHARACTERS  OF  THE  MALABAR  DRAMA  (Kathakali). 


OATTANTHULLAL, 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  323 

pieces  when  sung  by  clever  singers  without  the  accom¬ 
paniment  of  the  discordant  sounds  of  drums  and  metal 
gongs  bring  with  them  such  charm  and  inexpressible 
delight  to  the  hearer  as  may 

‘Dissolve  one  into  ecstasies 
Or  bring  all  heaven  before  one’s  eye’. 

But,  as  at  present  performed,  these  dramas  serve 
no  purpose  whatever.  Speaking  generally,  there  is 
considerable  dissatisfaction  prevalent  among  the  Eng¬ 
lish  educated  Malayalees  towards  this  institution  of 
Kathakali.  It  is  high  time,  they  say,  either  to  mend 
or  to  end  it”. 

The  Ottam  Tulial  is  a  singing  pertormance  of 
stories  generally  taken  from  the  PurSnas,  and  done  into 
verse  of  a  peculiar  form,  introduced  for  the  first  time 
by  the  distinguished  Malayalam  poet  Kunchan  Nampiar 
(A.D;  1705—1770).  We  may  quote  here  with  advantage 
Mr.  T.  K.  Krishna  Menon’s  observations  on  the  Tulial. 
“Tuiial,  literally  dances,  are  sung  to  the  accompani¬ 
ment  of  music,  pantomime,  and  dancing.  There  are 
three  classes  of  Tulials:  Ottam,  Sltankan,  and 
Parayan;  but,  as  the  poems  of  the  first  class  predominate, 
the  poems  of  the  other  classes  are  also  termed  Ottams. 
They  are  based  mostly  on  the  episodes  of  Bharatam  and 
Ramayanam-  Ottam  Tulial  as  the  name  indicates 
(oattam=running)  consists  of  a  variety  of  rapid  metres, 
well  suited  for  amusing  narratives.  The  pure  Ottam 
is  more  vigorous  than  Sitankan  while  the  Parayan  is 
the  best  suited  for  the  pathetic  style”. 

The  performer  of  the  dance  dresses  in  a  peculiar 
style  with  a  curious  head  piece  on,  has  tinkling  bells 
attached  to  his  waist  and  ankles,  and  sings  while  dan¬ 
cing.  The  song  is  taken  up  by  those  standing  behind, 
who  use  the  gong  and  long  finger  drum  to  keep  time. 
It  generally  lasts  for  a  couple  of  hours.  In  the  good 
old  days  these  songs  used  to  be  sung  by  the  Nayars 
while  on  their  march  to  battle. 

Hunting  is  a  favourite  source  of  recreation,  especially 
in  rural  and  hilly  districts.  The  Nsyar  women  amuse 


324  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

themselves  by  Kaikotti-Kaii  or  TiruvStirakaii,  a  sort 
of  dancing  with  appropriate  songs,  specially  during  the 
TiruvStira  season  in  January,  when  they  also  enjoy  the 
Ulinjsl  or  swinging  to  and  fro,  for  which  there  are 
special  songs  in  the  south.  At  other  times  they  have 
very  little  amusement  or  recreation,  unless  it  be  in 
reading  the  vernacular  renderings  of  the  PurSxias 
etc. 

General  education.  Malabar  is  perhaps  the  most 
literate  country  in  all  India,  specially  with  regard  to 
the  female  sex.  The  Nsyars  are  as  a  class  literate; 
both  boys  and  girls  ^receive  the  rudiments  of  education 
early  in  life.  Speaking  of  the  *  Nayars  of  ancient  type”, 
Mr.  Elie  Reclus  says,  “All  knew  at  least  how  to  read 
and  write”.1 

The  children  receive  their  elementary  education  at 
the  village  schools  already  described  in  the  primitive 
manner  sketched  before  except  in  remote  corners,  as 
yet  untouched  by  the  hand  of  so-called  reform  or  shall 
we  say  revolution,  the  village  schools  have  now  given 
place  to  institutions  subject,  to  Government  inspection 
conducted  on  lines  sketched  out  by  the  grant-in-aid  code. 
The  course  of  study  now  runs  in  a  different  groove.  At 
present  the  young  pupils  go  from  these  primary  verna¬ 
cular  schools  into  the  English  School  and  pursue  their 
English  studies.  The  Nayars  have  always  shown  an 
admirable  aptitude  for  the  study  of  Sanskrit,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  uncompromising  orthodox  attitude  of  the 
Naipbutiris,  they  always  managed  in  the  past  to  learn 
the  higher  branches  of  Sanskrit  literature  from  Ampa- 
lavssies  and  East  Coast  Brahman  Ssstries.  Nieuhoff 
tells  us  that  in  his  day  the  Nayars  applied  themselves 
to  “philosophy  and  specially  to  astronomy”.  They  are 
at  present  paying  considerable  attention  to  the  study  of 
English  and  have  succeeded  in  attaining  proficiency  in 
various  branches  of  knowledge.  There  are  among  them 
graduates  in  Arts,  Law,  Medicine,  Engineering,  etc, 

1.  Page  145. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  325 

of  the  Madras  University.  Many  have  obtained  European 
University  degrees  in  various  branches  of  knowledge, 
while  others  have  come  out  as  Baristers-at-law.  The 
girls  too  are  gradually  taking  to  English  education;  and 
there  are  among  them  many  graduates  of  the  Mad¬ 
ras  University.  There  are  numerous  girls*  schools  all 
over  the  country,  with  a  girls’  college  at  Trivandrum  l, 
not  to  mention  the  high  schools  maintained  by  the 
Native  States  and  the  missionary  bodies. 

National  character .  We  had  already  occasion  to 
speak  of  the  national  character  of  the  race  as  it  appeared 
to  the  1 6th  and  17th  century  travellers.  Before  refer¬ 
ring  to  the  character  of  the  modern  Nayars,  it  may  not 
be  out  of  place  to  notice  what  is  recorded  of  the  Nsyars 
by  the  18  th  century  writers  as  well. 

Two  Dutch  Governors  of  Cochin,  Gollenesse  in 
1743,  and  Moens  in  1781,  have  left  us  their  impressions 
of  the  M  alabar  people;  and  they  are  not  altogether 
of  a  flattering  nature.  The  former  observes: — 

“Promises  are  with  them  very  frail  ties  easily 
broken  if  their  interests  required  it  and  so  you  cannot 
look  too  much  about  and  before  you  with  them  and  not 
the  slightest  trust  can  be  put  in  their  promises.  Their 
many  and  binding  contracts  made  with  the  Company, 
but  never  kept  by  them  are  indisputable  proofs  of  my 
statement.  What  can  you  do  with  men  who,  when 
they  are  embarrassed  or  beaten,  willingly  submit  to 
the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  conquerors,  but  who 
have  no  intention  of  observing  them  except  as  long  as 
they  feel  the  force  to  which  they  must  bow,  and  whose 
good  fait  h  and  obedience  vanish  as  soon  as  it  is  with¬ 
drawn  from  this  coast?  They  are  in  no  way  excitable, 
but  very  composed;  outwardly  polite  but  their  heart 
full  of  bitterness,  they  are  masters  of  the  art  of  sounding 
a  person  without  his  noticing.  I  have  often  found  that 
when  the  Signatty  wish  to  obtain  something  from  the 
Company,  he  proposed  the  very  opposite,  solely  with 
the  intention  of  discovering  my  sentiments.  If  rejected 

x.  There  is  one  at  Ernakulam  too. 


326  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

his  proposal,  he  had  gained  his  point;  if  I  granted 
his  request,  he  would  produce  so  many ‘engines  directed 
to  the  gaining  of  his  object,  that  I  often  found  myself 
in  a  real  quandary  scarcely  knowing  how  to  repulse  the 
attack. 

“They  are  particularly  phlegmatic  and  redicule 
the  hasty  temper  of  Europeans;  and,  if  you  '  have  deal¬ 
ings  with  them  you  should  treat  them  according  to 
their  own  ways.  This  need  not  prevent  you  occasionally 
using,  if  necessary,  strong  language  and  earnest  ad- 
monations,  but  that  again  will  accomplish  little  unless 
a  good  number  of  soldiers  impart  weight  •  to  your 
words. 

“Ail  transactions  with  them  are  very  much  delayed 
by  their  numerous  festival  days  and  ceremonies;  one 
must  put  up  with  this  and  there  is  no  remedy;  but  their 
lucky  and  unlucky  days  which  always  occur  according 
as  their  interests  demand  and  just  as  is  convenient  to 
them,  are  intolerable’'.1 

Governor  Moens  observes: — “In  general  I  must 
note  about  the  Malabaries  that  they  hav  e  the  cha¬ 
racteristics  of  all  other  Indian  races,  viz.,  they  are  dis¬ 
trustful,  cunning  and  much  attached  to  their  old 
custom  with  which  they  cannot  be  made  to  break  even 
if  their  own  welfare  should  suffer.  In  particular  they 
are  lazy,  unashamed,  untrue  to  their  word  and  menda¬ 
cious  in  the  highest  degree,  which  one  must  always 
remember,  when  one  has  anything  to  transact  with 
them.” 

The  condemnation  of  the  character  of  the  Mala- 
yalees  by  the  Dutch  carries  along  with  it  its  explanation 
also.  The  Dutch,  a  powerful  western  nation,  had  come 
to  Malabar  to  deprive  the  Malayalees,  a  much  weaker 
nation  than  themselves  with  little  or  no  resources  to 
withstand  the  gratuitous  onslaughts  made  on  them 
of  their  country,  their  independence  and  their  wealth, 
In  achieving  their  object,  the  Dutch  had  never  stopped 
to  enquire  of  the  justice,  equity  or  morality  of  the  means 

1.  The  Dutch  in  Malabar ,  pp.  51  and  171* 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


32? 


Introd.J 

they  thought  fit  to  employ.  The  weaker  party  had 
of  course  to  defend  itself  and  the  sense  of  self-preserva¬ 
tion  had  perhaps  suggested  methods  which  are  not 
absolutely  defensible  from  a  moral  point  of  view.  The 
remarks  of  Mr.  Galletti,  the  translator  of  the  memoirs 
quoted  above,  regarding  Gollenesses’  statement  that  the 
Malayalees  very  often  failed  to  keep  their  contracts  are 
very  apt.  In  a  note  Mr.  Galletti  observes:  “This 
should  not  be  taken  seriously.  In  a  frank  passage  in 
his  memoir  of  1761,  Commandeur  Caspar  de  Jong 
observes  that  much  rubbish  was  talked  about  the  non- 
observance  of  contracts  and  treaties  by  native  princes. 
These  treaties  were  sometimes  obsolete,  sometimes 
curiously  interpreted  by  the  Dutch.  Similar  charges 
of  not  observing  treaties  could  just  as  easily  be  brought 
against  the  Dutch  themselves*’. 

Forbes  says,  “The  Nairs  of  Malabar  are  equally 
brave  as,  and  more  energetic  than,  most  of  the  warlike 
Hindus.  The  national  characteristics  of  both  people 
are  otherwise  very  similar.  A  mild  climate  and  the 
peculiar  tenets  of  their  religion  inspire  meekness,  tem¬ 
perance,  and  listlessness;  they  abstain  from  intoxicating 
liquors,  are  seldom  guilty  of  debaucheries,  and  not  sub¬ 
ject  to  many  of  those  passions  which  enslave  the  civili¬ 
zed  Europeans.  Strangers  to  patriotism,  and  the  bless¬ 
ings  of  liberty,  the  Malabars,  as  well  as  the  Northern 
Hindus,  are  governed  by  fear;  loyalty  and  affection 
form  no  part  of  their  political  system.  Amongst  such  a 
people  ambition  has  no  scope,  every  man  is  confined  to 
his  own  caste,  follows  the  profession  of  his  ancestors, 
is  married  in  childhood  to  his  equal,  and  never  rises 
higher  than  the  limited  sphere  in  which  he  was  born: 
there  may  be  exceptions,  but  they  are  very  uncommon. 

“Civilization,  as  far  as  the  Malabars  are  susceptible 
of  it,  has  long  attained  its  height.  Egypt,  Assyria, 
Persia,  Greece,  and  Rome,  from  the  pinnacle  of  grandeur, 
perfect  in  the  fine  arts,  and  the  luxury  of  opulence, 
have  dwindled  to  a  name:  the  Malabars  seem  to  have 
been  for  some  thousand  years  in  the  same  state  of 


328  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

mediocrity;  on  such  a  system,  no  new  designs  in  build¬ 
ing,  no  alteration  in  manners  or  dress,  no  improvements 
in  art  or  science  are  to  be  expected. 

“That  the  heat  of  the  Torrid  Zone  debilitates  the 
body,  enervates  the  mind  is  very  obvious;  to  this  cause 
may  be  attributed  the  want  of  curiosity,  enterprize, 
and  vigour,  among  the  Malabars;  their  inclinations  are 
chiefly  passive;  indolence  constitutes  their  happiness, 
and  you  cannot  impose  a  severer  task  than  mental  em¬ 
ployment:  with  the  exception  of  the  warlike  •  Nayars, 
they  pass  days,  months  and  years,  in  swinging  in  their 
verandahs  or  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  chewing  betel 
and  singing  dismal  ditties  without  a  reflection  on  the 
past  or  a  plan  for  the  future.  From  this  habitual  in¬ 
dolence  they  become  incapable  of  exertion;  and  thus 
the  laws,  manners  and  customs,  are  the  same  at  this 
day  as  they  were  a  thousand  years  ago.’’1 

Forbes  found  in  conversing  with  “the  Malabars 
more  suspicion  and  jealousy  than  among  any  other 
people  in  India:  they  were  very  cautious  of  giving  in¬ 
formation;  and  deemed  most  common  questions 
intrusive.’*  We  get  an  explanation  of  this  from,  the 
writer  himself,  when  he  adds,  “it  was  therefore  im¬ 
possible  from  such  a  people  to  obtain  much  knowledge 
either  of  a  religious  or  political  nature.*’  Forbes  was 
employed  by  the  English  at  Anjengo,  then  a  power 
aspiring  to  empire  in  India,  who  were  quietly  gather¬ 
ing  in  the  meshes  they  had  thrown  round  the  Penin¬ 
sula  and  tightening  their  grasp  on  it.  The  people 
were  naturally  reticent  in  giving  information  to  those 
who  they  had  ample  reason  to  believe  were  attempting 
to  subdue  them.  Grose,  writing  sometime  previously 
to  Forbes,  speaks  of  the  “Malabars’*  as  “a  civilized 
race.”  He  says,  “The  Malabars  have  in  general 
even  a  certain  politeness,  and  especially  a  shrewdness 
of  discernment  of  their  interests,  which  those  who  deal 
or  treat  with  them  are  sure  to  experience  (as  perhaps 
1.  pp,  242—4. 


Introd.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  329 

Forbes  did.)  Like  most  of  the  Orientalists,  they  are 

grave,  know  perfectly  well  how  to  keep  dignity;  and 
are  grave  observers  of  silence  (which  gave  occasion  to 
Forbes  to  regard  them  as  a  suspicious  class),  especially 
in  their  public  functions.  They  despise  and  distrust 
all  verboseness  in  their  management  of  state  affairs. 
Their  harangues  are  succinct  and  pathetic.  A  King 
of  Travancore  (the  Great  Martanda  Varma-1729  to 
1758)  for  example,  on  two  ambassadors  being  sent  to 
him  by  the  Naick  of  Madura,  a  neighbouring  prince, 
and  one  of  them  having  made  a  prolix  speech  and  the 
other  preparing  to  take  it  up  and  proceed  in  the  same 
manner  where  the  other  had  left  off,  austerely 
admonished,  him  in  these  few  words,  ‘Do  not  be  long, 
life  is  short.’ 

“  Lord  William  Bentinck”  says  Mr.  Logan, 
“wrote  in  1804,  that  there  was  one  point  in  regard  to 
the  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  Malabar,  on  which 
all  authorities,  however  diametrically  opposed  to  each 
other  on  other  points  agreed,  and  that  was  with 
regard  to  the  ‘independence  of  mind’  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  ‘independence  of  mind’  was  generally  diffused 
through  the  minds  of  the  people.  They  are  described 
as  being  extremely  sensible  of  good  treatment,  and 
impatient  of  oppression;  to  entertain  a  high  respect  for 
courts  of  judicature,  and  to  be  extremely  attached  to 
their  customs.  Agriculture  is  considered  as  an  honour¬ 
able  occupation,  and  the  rights  of  landed  property  and 
the  division  of  the  produce  of  the  soil  between  the 
landlord  and  tenant  are  perfectly  defined  and  confirmed 
by  immemorial  usage.” 

“The  independence  of  mind”  says  Mr.  Logan 
“which  is  here  referred  to  by  Lord  William  Bentinck, 
and  which  has  been  noticed  by  every  district  officer 
then  and  since,  could  only  have  been  the  slow  growth 
of  a  steady  political  system,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  this  territorial  organization  of  the  Nairs  into 

supervising  and  protecting  agencies  was  the  system 

AP. 


330  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

which  produced  and  (for  India)  unexpected  results/’1 

Mr.  Thomas  Harvey  Baber,  who  was  for  30  years 
in  Malabar,  in  his  evidence  before  the  House  of  Lords 
in  1830,  said,  in  answer  to  a  question  about  the  advis¬ 
ability  of  introducing  the  system  of  trial  by  jury  in 
Malabar,  “I  should  say  decidedly  that  the  people  of 
Malabar  were  the  most  intelligent  and  best  informed 
of  any  natives  I  have  ever  met  with  that  they  were 
more  strict  observers  of  truth  than  the  other  inhabitants 
of  Hindustan”.  He  said  that  he  attributed  this  pecu¬ 
liarity  to  their  keen  sense  of  honour. and  high  notions 
and  spirit  of  independence.  “The  Nairs  or  military 
class  of  Malabar/’  says  Col.  Wilkes,  “are,  perhaps,  not 
exceeded  by  any  nation  on  earth  in  a  high  spirit  of 
independence  and  military  honour.” 

In  estimating  the  national  character  of  a  people  it* 
is  necessary  to  previously  study  their  social  and  politi¬ 
cal  condition,  their  antecedents,  and  the  gradual 
growth  and  evolution  of  the  peculiar  characteristics 
that  mark  off  the  particular  class  from  others.  A  failure 
to  properly  do  this  has  caused  Dr.  Day  in  Cochin 
and  the  Rev.  S.  Mateer  in  Travancore  to  leave 
behind  them  an  estimate  of  the  character  of  the  Nairs 
which  in  many  respects  is  as  incorrect  and  unsympa¬ 
thetic  as  it  is  untrue  and  unmerited.  According  to  the 
former,  ‘‘the  Nairs  are  a  proud  and  warlike  race, 
arrogant  to  inferiors,  subservient  to  superiors*  profuse 
in  promises,  and  slack  in  their  performance.  They 
occasionally  officiate  as  accountants,  but  their  state¬ 
ments  must  be  received  with  caution,  and  additional 
testimony  is  generally  advisable.  Their  security  is 
always  requested  in  writing,  otherwise  it  cannot  be 
greatly  relied  on/’2 

Other  writers  of  a  more  recent  date  nave  left 
more  pleasing  accounts  of  them.  To  mention  one  or 
two  only,  Cob  Heber  Drury, .  writing  in  1889,  des¬ 
cribes  them  “as  singularly  docile  and  gentle’’,  while 

1.  Malabar,  vol.  1,  pp.  267—8. 

2.  Day’s  Land  of  the  Perumals,  p.  315. 


In  trod.]  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  331 

Walter  Hamilton  refers  to  them  as  “the  polite  Nair.,J 
The  Travancore  Census  Commissioner,  Dr.  Subra- 
mania  Ayyar,  who  has  a  lifelong,  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  people,  one  who  could,  as  such,  speak  with  auth* 
ority  observes,  “The  additional  features  of  the  ancient 
Nsyars  have  undoubtedly  been  sweet  frankness,  rever¬ 
ence  to  authority,  uncalculating  hospitality,  patient 
industriousness,  and  manly  affection;  and,  though  with 
the  altered  conditions  of  external  life,  these  features 
possibly  have  undergone  some  modifications,  none 
with  any  pretentions  to  familiarity  with  Malabar  and 
its  people  could  fail  to  be  struck  with  love  and  regard 
for  this  good  and  interesting  community.” 

Economic  condition .  The  present  economic  condi¬ 
tion  of  the  Nsyars  requires  the  anxious  consideration 
of  the  community.  They  have  left  their  old  moorings 
and  are  drifting  whether  they  themselves  seem  not  to 
know.  They  lost  their  traditional  occupation- 
fighting.  They  are  no  longer  the  brave  soldiers  they 
once  were.  As  observed  by  Col.  Drury,  “Whatever 
may  have  been  said  or  believed  of  their  bravery  and 
courage  as  a  warrior  race  in  earlier  days,  can  hardly 
apply  to  their  descendants  in  the  present  day.  They 
are  singularly  docile  and  gentle  and  the  appellation 
given  to  them  of  ‘born  soldiers’  must  be  received  re* 
servedly.”  With  Tippu’s  invasion  of  Malabar  and  the 
havoc  he  created  there,  the  fabric  of  society  was  rudely 
shaken,  and  on  his  expulsion  from  the  country  the 
British  assumed  supremacy.  The  old  Rajas,  who  had 
fled  from  their  possessions,  returned  and  were  placed 
in  despotic  power  under  the  protecting  aegis  of  the 
new  suzerain,  but  without  the  checks  imposed  on  them 
by  the  ancient  constitution.  They  abused  their  trust, 
with  the  result  that  there  was  constant  rebellion.  The 
British  assumed  direct  authority,  and  set  themselves  to 
put  down  the  Nsyars  and  break  their  political  system. 
This  brought  about  the  Pyche  or  Cottayam  Raja’s 
rebellion  which  exercised  the  powers  of  so  great  a  sol¬ 
dier  as  Col.  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley,  who  subsequently 


33$  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

came  to  be  known  as  Duke  of  Wellington.  The  Nayars 
were  disarmed,  and  measures  were  concerted  to  des¬ 
troy  their  power  altogether.  Ever  after  this,  they  have 
been  an  enervated,  effiminate,  docile,  gentle  race.  The 
policy  that  dictated  this  emasculation  of  a  manly  and 
virile  race,  which  has  for  aeons  and  aeons  of  ages  main¬ 
tained  with  pride  the  reputation  of  being  “born  sol¬ 
diers,’'  “best  soldiers  in  the  world,”  of  whom  it  has 
been  remarked  that  more  brilliant  soldiers  have  never 
been  seen  and  their  pride  was  no  trifle” — is,  indeed, 
questionable.  However  that  be,  there  is  the  official 
declaration  made  by  Mr.  Logan  in  the  District  Manual 
of  Malabar  that  “the  martial  spirit  of  the  Nayars  in 
these  piping  times  of  peace  has  quite  died  out  for  want 
of  exercise.  The  Nayar  is  more  and  more  becoming  a 
family  man  *  *  *  *  With  a  large  increase  of 

their  numbers,  and  with  comparative  poverty  for  the 
large  body  of  them,  the  race  is  fast  degenerating”  1  a 
circumstance  that  certainly  calls  for  immediate  atten¬ 
tion. 

The  Nayars  were  agriculturists  in  addition  to 
being  warriors.  Of  course  all  Nayars  were  not  fighters  ; 
but  in  the  early  days  all  fighting  men  were  Nayars. 
They  were  also  the  Kanakar  or  supervisors  of  the  lands 
of  the  Nambutiris.  and  they  had  themselves  lands  of 
their  own.  Ibn  Batuta,  travelling  from  Calicut  to 
Quilon  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century*  says 
“In  all  this  space  of  two  months’  journey,  there  is  not 
a  spot  free  from  cultivation.  For  everybody  has  here 
a  garden,  and  his  house  is  placed  in  the  middle  of  it: 
and  around  the  whole  of  this  here  is  a  fence  of  wood, 
up  to  which  the  ground  of  each  inhabitant  comes.* '  ? 
In  the  16th  century,  we  learn  from  Barbosa,  that  “they 
lived  in  their  estates  which  they  fenced  jn.”  Pyrard, 
at  the  beginning  of  the  17th  century,  informs  us  that 
“the  Nayars  are  all  lords  of  the  land  and  live  on  their 
revenues  or  on  the  pension  allowed  by  the  king.”  The 
lands  were  actually  cultivated  by  the  slave  class,  such 

•1.  Pages  138. 

2,  Pages  16s— 6. 


THRESHING  CORN 


Introd.] 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


333 


as  the  Pulayas,  etc.,  the  supervision  being  done  by  the 
N2yars.  The  Nsyar  Brigades:  of  Travancore  and 
Cochin,  the  only  surviving  remnants  of  the  old  fight¬ 
ing  Nayars,  now  a  body  of  nominal  warriors  employed 
exclusively  as  guards  of  honour  and  watchmen,  even 
now  add  agriculture  to  their  other  profession.  While 
off  duty,  they  engage  themselves  in  cultivating  “their 
lands  to  supplement  their  scanty  pay.  Even  in  the 
matter  of  agriculture,  at  present  competitions  is  keen, 
and  the  conditions  of  cultivation  have  altered  greatly. 
With  the  disorganization  of  the  traditional  arrange¬ 
ments  of  professions  and  industries,  a  large  number  of 
hands  have  been  thrown  on  land  as  the  only  means  of 
obtaining  a  livelihood.  Population  has  increased  to  a 
large  extent,  and,  the  people  not  having  enterprise  or 
capital  to  open  up  new  areas  of  cultivation,  waste  lands 
are  seldom  taken  in  hand,  while  the  existing  holdings 
are  being  parcelled  out  into  innumerable  small  sub¬ 
divisions.  The  result  is  gradual  pauperization.  The 
soil  is  getting  exhausted.  Little  or  no  manure  is  used. 
The  live-stock  is  deteriorating;  the  area  of  pasturage 
is  shrunk,  the  increase  of  population  has  caused  all 
available  land  to  be  occupied  for  habitation,  though 
not  for  cultivation.  Both  animal  manure  and  leaf 
manures  are  scanty.  The  forest  laws  and  salt  duty  sit 
heavily  on  the  agricultural  classes.  No  common  pas¬ 
ture  land  is  reserved,  and  grazing  fees  have  to  be  paid 
to  Government  for  pasturing  cattle.  The  duty  on  salt 
is  so  heavy  that  it  cannot  be  made  available  for  cattle. 
Leaf  manure  cannot  be  cut  without  extra  fees  being 
paid.  Apart  from  them,  there  are  special  causes  ope¬ 
rating  towards  the  degeneration  of  the  Nsyars.  Pride 
of  caste,  pride  of  lineage,  pride  of  profession,  an  over¬ 
weening  and  self-complacent  idea  of  their  own  impor¬ 
tance  and  superiority  as  members  of  society — these 
have  in  no  small  degree  contributed  towards  the 
bringing  into  existence  of  their  present  condition. 
They  are  averse  to  manual  labour  of  any  kind,  they 
think  it  degrading.  A  false  idea  of  dignity  deters  them 


334  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

from  undertaking  enterprises  that  will  in  the  long  run 
advance  them  as  a  nation.  “The  toils  of  culture  and 
of  art’*  as  observed  by  Camoens  “they  scorn,”  They 
have  yet  to  learn  the  truth  what  Pope  says  that 

4 4 Honour  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise 

Act  well  thy  part  and  there  all  honour  lies.” 

They  have  not  in  them  the  genius  of  commerce.  They 
have  never  taken  kindly  to  the  mercantile  profession,  and 
they  do  not  like  to  be  merchants  or  traders.  •  But  they 
stick  close  to  agriculture.  What  nation  has  prospered 
as  mere  agriculturists  and  quill-drivers  ?  Though 
theoretically  living  a  corporate  life,  corporate  action  is 
foreign  to  them.  Want  of  union  among  themselves, 
being  the  heritage  of  the  joint  family  wherein  a  state  of 
perpetual  disunion  prevails,  and  want  of  confidence  in 
others,  prevent  them  from  united  action,  and  stand  in 
the  way  of  their  entering  into  large  undertakings. 
They  seem  not  to  understand  that  confidence  begets 
confidence.  Home  sickness  and  superstition  .  born  of 
the  ‘absolutism  of  caste  and  precedent’  are  among 
other  causes  which  have  deterred  their  progress.  Their 
unnatural  system  of  family  life,  and  their  laws  of  inheri¬ 
tance  are,  in  a 'way,  partly  responsible  for  their  present 
condition.  The  family  hangs  on  them  as  a  heavy  mill¬ 
stone,  of  which  any  one  with  a  sense  of  duty  in  him 
cannot  disencumber  himself.  There  is  always  a  conflict 
between  inclination  and  duty  and,  of  course,  with  men 
of  honest  principles,  the  sense  of  duty  must  prevail. 
They  have  been  made  weak  by  ‘time  and  fate.’  They 
have  not  the  patience  to  suffer  and  the  perseverance  to 
command  success.  They  have  not  the  will  ‘to  strive, 
to  seek,  to  find  and  not  to  yield.’ 

The  Nsyars  have  from  early  days  served  the  Gov¬ 
ernments  of  the  country  as  accountants,  writers, 
magistrates,  judges,  governors,  etc.,  and  this  sort  of 
unproductive  official  and  professional  labour  has  come 
to  be  looked  upon  as  higher  than  agricultural  and 
industrial  persuits.  They  forget  that  other  classes  whom 
they  are  pleased  to  designate  as  lower  are  gradually 


The  Late  Mr.  T.  Sankunni  Menon,  c.  s.  i. 

(He  was  Diwan  of  Cochin  f°r 
about  19  years). 


(  To  face  p.  334 


335 


Introd.J  INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 

coming  tip,  and  that  there  are  influences  at  work  which 
they  cannot  stop*  The  Christian  missionary,  with  his 
proselytizing  and  educational  labours,  has  been  abroad 
now  for  some  time,  and  even  the  Cherumas  and  Pula- 
yas  have  improved  under  his  philanthropic  instruction. 
It  is  not  for  us  to  consider  how  far  the  missionaries  are 
right  in  dislocating  traditional  arrangements  as  to 
the  exercise  of  the  various  profession  of  the 
country.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they 
have  conferred  the  boon  of  education  on  the  submerged 
classes,  and  have  elevated  them  in  the  social  ladder. 
It  is  indeed  gratifying  to  see  that  these  classes  are 
pushing  forward  ever  and  anon.  Unlike  the  Nsyars, 
they  ‘‘scorn  delights  and  live  life’s  laborious  days’’ 
and  are  never  averse  to  turn  their  hands  to  honest 
labour  to  earn  an  honest  penny.  The  Nsyars  have  yet 
to  realise  the  dignity  of  labour  and  the  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice,  how  to  sink  the  individual  in  the  nation,  and 
unless  prompt  measures  are  adopted  to  improve  their 
present  condition,  they  will  be  swamped  by  the  more 
enterprising  classes,  such  as  the  Tiuvas  and  Native 
Christians,  both  of  whom  are  exhibiting  a  highly  com¬ 
mendable  spirit  of  enterprise,  indicating  the  way  to 
prosperity  and  affluence — a  notable  object  lesson  to  the 
Nsyar  community.  Let  us  hope  with  Dr.  Subramania 
Ayyar  that,  “with  the  large  number  of  cultured  and 
still  monied  men,  there  is  no  reason  to  fear  that  an 
early  diagnosis  will  not  be  made  and  prompt  remedy 
adopted.  Under  present  circumstances,  agriculture 
must  be  largely  supplemented  by  industries  of  all  sorts, 
so  organised  as  to  leave  intact  the  independent,  self- 
reliant  habit  of  the  earlier  people,  who  would  not 
object  to  do  any  kind  of  work  if  at  their  ancestral  acre. 
Material  want  is  the  chief  enemy  of  religion,  morality, 
and  general  character,  and  all  efforts  of  improvement 
should  go  forth  in  that  direction  under  the  ennobling 
stimulus  of  internal  harmony  and  universal  love.”! 


i.  Travancore  Census  Report,  Part  i,  p.  30. 


336  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.20. 

After  the  Nayars  come,  the  six  classes  of  Silpis  or 
artizans.1 

Then  follow  the  Patitas  of  whom  there  are  ten 

•  9 

classes: — 

(1)  KaniSn,  (2)  Vilkufup,  (3)  Kurup.2  They  are 
like  the  .  Panikkars  or  teachers  of  gymnastics.  (4) 
'J'olekufup."  They  are  curriers  and  work  in  leather. 
(5)  Velan.  Low*  class  washermen  known  also  as 
MannSn  who  supplies  Matffu  or  doth  washed  by  them 
which  the  higher  classes  have  to  wear  when  being  puri¬ 
fied  from  ceremonial  pollution  caused  by  death  and 
birth  in  the  family  and  by  menses  in  women.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  account  from  Purchas  refers  to  them: — ,f Another 
sect  is  called  Manantamar,  which  are  laund.  ,ers,  nor 
may  they  or  their  posterity  be  of  other  function:  nor 
may  they  mingle  themselves  with  any  other  generation. 
They  have  idol  ceremonies  and  temples  by  themselves. 
Their  brethren  or  nephews  are  their  heirs.1’4  (6)  Ps^an. 
These  are  tailors.  (7)  Paravans.  These  are  akin  to 
Muckavas  and  live  on  the  sea-coast.  They  collect 
shells  and  prepare  lime.  (8)  Iluvan..  (9)  Muckavan. 
(10)  Valan. 

After  these  come  the  eight  classes  of  Nlcha  or 
polluting  castes. 

(1)  Paraya  (2)  Pulaya  (3)  NaySdi.  (4)'  Ullstan 
(5)  Kurumpar  (6)  Malayar]  (7)  Velan  (8)  Kalian. 

Next  comes  the  eight  extra  castes,  viz: — 

1  AmmamSr.  This  class  is  included  among  the 
Nambutiries  from  whom  they  differ  only  in  their  system 
of  inheritance  which  is  MarumakkattSyam.5  *  (2) 
Naxppiti  with  sacred  thread  (3)  Nampiti  without 

1.  For  remarks  on  these  and  on  many  of  the  other  classes 
given  below,  see  notes  in  this  and  in  the  next  chapters. 

2.  This  class  includes  those  in  Note  3  to  Letter  XXI. 

3.  This  class  includes  those  in  Note  3  to  Letter  XXI. 

4  1 

4  Puchas  Pilgrimage  p.  628.  -v 

5,  For  an  account  of  this  class,  see  note  on  Nambutiries# 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES 


337 


In  trod.] 

sacred  thread.  (  4 )  Putuvsl1  (  5 )  Pilsppilli2 
(6)  Ssmantan  (7)  Karivelattu  Nsyar — a  special 
class  of  Nsyars  attached  to  the  Rajas  of  Kolattufisd 
and  Travancore  as  body-guards.  In  all  respects 
they  are  the  same  with  the  other  Nayars.  (8) 
Veilalans.  They  are  the  inhabitants  of  N^njanSd,  a 
class  of  Tamil  Sudras  who  have  adopted  the  Maru- 
makkaSttyam  system  of  inheritance  and  who,  in  other 
respects,  are  more  Tamilian  than  Malayali. 

a 

1.  See  note  under  the  head  Putuval  among  the  Antaralajatis. 

2.  See  note  under  the  head  Pilappilli  among  the  Antara¬ 
lajatis. 

[One  of  the  surest  of  the  tests  to  ascertain  the  status  of  a 
class  of  people  within  the  Hindu  fold  is  to  look  for  their  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  old,  well-known  temples.  This  is  all  the  more  so  in 
the  caste-ridden  and  priest-ridden  Kerala. 

The  subject,  though  of  absorbing  interest  from  social  and  his¬ 
torical  points  of  view,  is  vast,  and  I  shall  refer  only  to  a  few 
instances  to  serve  the  purpose  of  this  note. 

The  Thachudaya  Kaimal  had“entire  management  and  control  of 
the  whole  of  the  Irinjalakkuda  temple  concerns  and  endowments.” 
He  exercised  even  sovereign  rights  over  the  Devaswam  Samketams. 
Even  on  several  spiritual  affairs  his  word  wasdaw.  As  in  the 
case  df  Brahmans,  he  is  given  by  the  officiating  priest 
theertham  and  prasadatn  in  his  hands.  He  has  the  right  like 
them  to  get  on  the  sopanam ,  ring  the  bell  and  worship.  The 
Ernakulaiq  temple,  the  temple  chronicle  says,  originally  belonged 
to  Thoosath  Kaimal.  In  the  Vaikam  temple,  on  the  annual 
ashtami  night,  Karukayil  Kaimal  is  brought  in  in  a  palanquin 
with  the  appropriate  music  and  drumming,  to  the  front  of  the 
procession  of  the  Deity,  and  is  even  furnished  with  the  money 
from  the  temple  funds  for  the  offering  of  his  Kanikam  to  the 
Deity.  In  the  Ampalapuzha  temple,  Valiyamadathil  Panikkar 
still  officiates,  with  his  golden  capped  cane,  as  the  protector  of 
the  yearly  Utsavam  at  the  time  of  the  Sribhoota  Bali  when  not 
even  Brahmans  are  permitted  to  stand  so  near  as  he  to  the  7 an- 
thri.  Still  further  south,  in  another  famous  shrine,  before  the 
flag  is  hoisted  for  the  Utsavam,  leave  and  protection  are  sought 
for  the  conduct  of  that  ceremony  from  a  Kurup  who  never  appears 
on  the  scene.  Even  the  most  ancient  and  historic  temple  of  Mati- 
lakam,  where  the  Vidval  Sadas  of  the  Nambutiris  and  the  Parlia¬ 
ment  of  the  Perumals  met,  was  managed  by  the  Tekkeydath  and 
Vatakkeydath  Nairs,  These  facts  unmistakably  prove  that 
-Nayars  are  no  Sudras.  Ed.\ 


t 


338  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

2.  Nayars.  Born  Soldiers — always  bear  arms . 
Most  of  the  early  travellers  note  this  circumstance. 
Barbosa  tells  us  that  “in  these  kingdoms  of  Malabar 
there  is  another  set  of  people  called  Nayars,  who  are 
the  gentry  and  have  no  other  duty  than  to  carry  on 
war,  and  they  continually  carry  their  arms  with  them.”1 
According  to  Varthema,  the  second  class  of  Pagans  in 
Calicut,  “the  Nairs  are  the  same  as  the  gentle  folks 
amongst  us;  and  are  obliged  to  bear  sword  and  shield 
or  bows  and  lances*  When  they  go  through  the  streets, 
if  they  did  not  carry  arms  they  would  no  longer  be 
gentlemen.”2  In  1563,  Garcia  describes  the  Nsyars  as 
“those  who  are  the  knights,”  while,  a  few  years  later, 
Castenheda  refers  to  them  thus,  “The  men  of  warre 
which  the  King  of  Calicut  and  the  other  Kings  have, 
are  Nayres,  which  be  all  gentlemen.’’  Again  “they  are 
all  gentlemen  who  follow  no  office  of  employ  but  that 
of  fighting  when  needed.”  Gasper  Correa  says  that 
when  Vasco  de  Gama’s  ships  lay  at  anchor  at  Calicut, 
there  came  on  board  “a  servant  of  the  king,  a  gentle¬ 
man  of  birth,  whom  they  call  Nair.”  Not  long  after, 
Camoens,  the  soldier  poet,  who  had  accompanied 
Cabral  to  India  in  1553,  described  the  Nsyar  in  this 
epic  poem.  That  description  has  already  been  quoted 
in  the  prior  note. 

Linschotten  (1583)  says,  “Of  these  Malabares 
there  are  two  manner  of  people,  the  one  noblemen 
or  gentlemen  called  Nayros,  which  are  Soldiers,  that 
do  only  weare  and  handle  Armes.”  He  adds,  “They 
are  verie  good  and  stout  soliders  and  would  set  upon  a 
man  verie  firecely.”  In  Johnson’s  Early  Relations  of 
the  most  Famous  Kingdoms  of  the  World  (1611),  we  read 
“it  is  strange  to  see  how  ready  the  soldier  of  this  coun¬ 
try  is  at  his  Weapons.  They  are  all  gentlemen 
and  termed  Naires.”  In  1609,  Pyrard  de  Laval  speaks 
of  them  as  “lords  of  the  land  . .....  the  best  soliders  in 

the  world  and  courageous,  extremely  skilful  in  the  use 

1.  p.  124. 

2.  p.  142- 


BOATS  OF  OLDEN  DAYS. 


nayars 


339 


N.  2.] 

of  arms,  with  limbs  so  agile  and  supple  that  they  can 
throw  themselves  into  every  imaginable  posture,  and 
thus  avoid  or  cunningly  parry  every  possible  stroke 
whilst  at  the  same  time  they  spring  upon  the  foe”.  In 
1623,  Della  Vella  speaks  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Calicut  and  the  inland  parts  “specially  the 
better  sort,”  as  “Gentiles  of  the  race  of  Nairi,  for  the 
most  part  by  profession  soldiers  sufficiently  swash¬ 
ing  and  brave.’’  The  Dutch  Captain  Nieuhoff  (1653 
— 70)  says  ‘‘The  Nayrs  are  descended  of  noble  fami¬ 
lies  and  brought  up  to  the  war  *  *  *  and  are 

very  bold  and  brave.  They  are  the  best  wrestlers 
in  the  world  and  are  very,  nimble  on  foot.”  Dr. 
Fryer  (1672)  says,  “The  second  form  is  that  of  the 
Nobiles,  who  are  bred  soldiers  and  therefore  called 
Naires.”  Orme  (1755)  remarks  that  “the  people  of 
this  denomination  (*.  the  Nairs)  are  by  birth  the 
Military  tribe  of  the  Malabar  coast.”  1 

Of  the  capacity  of  the  Nsyars  to  fight,  various 
authorities  have  borne  testimony,  though  they  have  at 
the  same  time  pointed  out  the  defects  in  their  organisa¬ 
tion  and  in  the  methods  of  their  warfare.  Of  the  more 
recent  ones,  M.  Mahe  de  La  Bourdonnais,  the  cele¬ 
brated  French  soldier  who  bore  the  brunt  of  many  a 
Nsyar  onset  in  1725,  thus,  described  them:  “Les 
Nayars  sout  de  grands  hommes  basanes,  legers  et 
vigoureux:  Ils  n’  out  pas  d’  autre  profession  que  celle 
des  armes,  et  seraient  de  fort  bons  soldats,  s’ils  etaient 
disciplines:  mais  ils  combattent  sans  ordre,  ils  premnent 
la  fuite  de’s  qu’on  les  serre  de  pres  avec  quelque  su- 
periorite;  pourtant  s’ils  se  voient  presses  avec  vigueur 
at  qu’ils  se  croient  en  danger,  ils.  reviennent  a’  la  charge 
et  ne  se  rendent  jamars.”2 

To  the  remarks  already  quoted  of  Sir  Hector 
Munro,  the  hero  of  Buxar,  who  was  perhaps  the  only 
British  General  of  note  who  had  ever  to  face  the  Nsyars 

1.  Vol,  1,  p.  400. 

2,  Logan  p.  137. 


340  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

in  the  field,  Mr.  Logan  adds,  “They  were  brave  light 
troops  excelling  in  skirmishing,  but  their  organisation 
into  small  bodies  with  discordant  interests  unfitted  them 
to  repel  any  serious  invasion  by  an  enemy  even  moder¬ 
ately  organised.’  * 

Col.  Wilkes  observes,  “The  Nairs  or  military 
class  of  Malabar  are  perhaps,  not  exceeded  by  any 
nation  on  earth  in  a  high  spirit  of  independence  and 
military  honour;  but,  like  all  persons  stimulated  by  that 
spirit  without  the  direction  of  discipline,  their  efforts 
are  uncertain,  capricious  and  desultory.”  Referring  to 
the  defence  the  Nayars  made  against  Hyder’s  invasion 
of  Malabar  in  1766,  Wilks  says  “Hyder  had  not  before 
engaged  so  brave  or  so*formidable  an  enemy;  their  con¬ 
cealed  fire  from  the  woods  v could  neither  be  returned 
with  effect;  nor  could  the  troops  of  Hyder  be  prevailed 
on  to  enter  the  thickets  and  act  individually  against 
them.  In  every  movement  through  the  forests  with 
which  the  country  abounds,  bands  of  Nayars  rushed 
by  surprise  upon  the  columns  of  march,  and  after 
iriaking  dreadful  havoc  were  in  a  moment  again  invi¬ 
sible.’ ’  1 

That,  when  well-disciplined  and  properly  led,  they 
can  be  depended  upon  to  fight  bravely  is  evidenced  by 
the  testimony  of  the  English  officers  under  whom  the 
detachment  of  the  Travancore  army  fought  Hyder  in 
Tinneveily  and  Calicut  in  the  last  war  with  him,  which 
was  to  the  effect  that  they  were  “universally  allowed  to 
have  behaved  remarkably  well”.  Detachments  of  the 
Travancore  army  were  also  employed  by  the  English 
against  Tippu,  and  these  also  seem  to  have  acquitted 
themselves  creditably.2 

The  undisciplined  guerilla  nature  of  warfare  so 
dear  to  the  heart  of  the  Nsyar  was,  not  long  after  the 
final  cession  of  Malabar  to  the' British,  used  with  great 
effect  against  the  English  by  the  redoubtable  Pyche 

1.  Pp.  289 — 91. 

2.  Mr.  P.  S.  Menon?s  History  of  Travancore,  p,  205. 


THE  NAYAR  WARRIORS  OF  ANCIENT  TIMES 


NAYARS 


341 


N.  2.1 

Raja  who  set  up  a  general  commotion  which  let  the 
country  ablaze  with  revolt  and  taxed  the  energy  and 
resources  of  no  less  a  general  than  Sir  Arthur  Wellesly 
who  afterwards  came  to  be  known  as  the  Great  Duke 
of  Wellington.  For  full  nine  years,  the  revolt  was  kept 
up  till  the  Fabian  policy  of  Mr.  Baber  reduced  the 
resources  of  the  Raja  and  drove  him  to  the  interior  of 
the  forests  of  Mysore  whither  he  was  hunted  by  Captain 
Clapham  and  50  sepoys  and  bagged. 

Early  in  the  19th  century,  Col.  Welsh  speaks  of 
the  NSyars  as  “Habituated  from  infancy  to  the  use  of 
arms,  and  fond  to  excess  of  the  wild  sports  of  the  field, 
they  are  the  soldiers  of  the  country,  without  the  tram¬ 
mels  of  pay  or  discipline;  and  from  their  natural  habits 
and  being  inured  to  every  kind  of  fatigue  and  danger, 
have  known  to  make  the  most  surprising  marches  and 
perform  feats  of  utmost  daring. 

Deterioration  had  however  set  in  even  before  the 
time  of  Hyder’s  invasion  of  Malabar.  This  drove  the 
NSyars  to  desperation*  They  defended  their  hearths 
and  homes  as  long  as  they  could.  But  the  power  pitted 
against  them  was  so  superior  and  the  Native  Princes 
were  so  helpless  that  they  had  to  give  up  the  struggle 
and  retire  into  the  forests  harassing  the  enemy  from 
there.  Tippu  completed  the  work  started  by  Hyder. 
He  devastated  the  country  with  fire  and  sword  carry¬ 
ing  away  an  immense  number  of  prisoners,  both  men 
and  women,  and  converting  to  Islam  whoever  he  could 
lay  hold  of.  The  few  NSyars  who  escaped  him  fled  to 
Travancore.  Tippu’s  regime,  in  Malabar  had  com¬ 
pletely  broken  the  backbone  of  the  Nsyar  military 
organisation,  and  the  British  on  their  attaining  supre¬ 
macy  put  forth  their  best  endeavours  to  keep  the  Nsyars 
down.  The  result  was  that  those  who  were  erstwhile 
a  class  of  superior  fighting  men  lost  heart  and  were 
gradually  reduced  to  mere  agriculturists  and  family 
men.  Col:  Welsh,  marching  on  Trivandrum  on  the 
occasion  of  the  ‘Nayar  war’  in  1809  says,  “that  the 
Military  Reminiscences. 


342  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  ^L-  20, 

enemy  had  proved  far  below  our  expectations’*.  He 
however  adds,  “yet  there  were  some  exceptions.  A 
native  officer  in  the  lines  being  fired  at  by  a  soldier  of 
the  69”  cut  him  down  and  was  killed  by  another 
soldier,  a  few  others  also  stood  on  both  sides  and 
refusing  to  surrender,  were  put  to  death  on  the  spot”. 
This  deterioration  has  been  steadily 'going  on  and 
Captain  Drury,  writing  in  1858,  contrasts  the  half- 
effiminate  disposition  of  the  present-day  Nayar  with 
the  martial  valour  of  his  ancestors,  so  justly  celebrated 
by  earlier  writers.  He  remarks,  aptly  enough,  that 
‘‘the  description  of  a  Nayar  given  by  the  early  writers 
more  fittingly  represent  a  Parthian  houseman,  or 
Roman  athlete,  than  the  worn-out,  modern-day  speci¬ 
men  of  this  once  manly  race.”1 

3.  Nayars  form  an  honoured  caste.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  the  Hindu  religion,  there  are  four  castes;  the 
Brahmans,  the  K§hetriyas,  the  VySias,  and  the  Sudras. 
The  first  three  are  styled  the  twice-born;  for,  according 

to  Manu,  all  are  born  Sudras  but  are  re-barn  as  Brah- 

» 

mans,  K$he{riyas,  and  Vysias  by  the  performance  of 
ceremonies.  *  Jenmana  Jay  ate  Sudra  Karmana  Jay  ate 
Dwija ,  u  e .,  by  birth  all  are  born  Sudras,  by  the  per¬ 
formance  of  ceremonies  persons  are  re-born  as  BrSh- 
mans.  The  Sudras  thus  form  the  fourth  and  not  the 
third  class  as  mentioned  by  our  author.  In  one  sense, 
our  author’s  statement  may  be  justified;  for  in  Malabar, 
according  to  the  Keralolpathyy  the  Vysia  class  does  not 
exist.  The  Nayars  are  classed  by  some  as  Sudras;  but 
it  should  be  observed  that  their  position  in  the  caste 
scale  is  quite  different  from  that  of  the  Sudras  of  the 
East  Coast.  The  Nayars  really  form  an  “honoured 
caste”,  for  they  are  indispensible  associates  of  the 
Nambutiri  Brahmans  in  most  of  their  important 
religious  ceremonies  such  as  yagam  (sacrifice),  etc., 
besides  being  ‘protectors*  and  ‘fighting  men’2. 

1.  Madras  Journal  of  Literature  and  Science,  vol.  19,  p:  20$; 

2.  See  Introductory  Notes  on  Nayars,  and  the  foot-note  at 
its  close  on  p,  337. 


MILITARY  TRAINING 


343 


N.  4.1 

4*  Military  training.  Like  the  Spartan 
youths  of  old,  every  Nsyar  lad  had  to  undergo  from  his 
boyhood  a  severe  course  of  bodily  training  in  the 
gymnasiums  or  Kalaris  which  were  attached  to  every 
village.  These  were  presided  over  by  a  Panikkar  or 
Kurup,  u  e .,  the  fencing  master,  who  trained  the  youth 
in  the  skilful  use  of  arms  as  also  to  fence,  box  and 
wrestle.  “In  general  when  these  Nayars  are  of  7  years 
of  age”,  says  Barbosa,  “they  are  immediately  sent  to 
school  to  learn  all  manner  of  feats  of  agility  and  gymna¬ 
stics  for  the  use  of  their  weapons.  First  they  learn  to 
dance,  and  then  to  tumble,  and  for  that  purpose  they 
render  supple  all  their  limbs  from  their  childhood,  so 
that  they  can  Fend  them  in  any  direction.  And  after 
they  had  experience  hi  this,-' they  teach  them  to  manage 
the  weapons  which  suit  each  one  most.  That  is  to  say, 
bows,  clubs,  lances,  and  most  of  them  are  taught  to  use 
the  sword  and  buckler,  which  is  of  more  common  use 
among  them.  In  this  fencing  there  is  much  agility 
and  science,  and  there  are  very  skilful  men  who  teach 
this  art,  and  they  are  calle'd  panikkars;  they  are  Cap¬ 
tains  in  war.”1  De  Barros  gives  the  same  account, 
and  remarks  “that  the  pupils  regard  their  master  as  a 
father  on  account  of  the  instruction  he  gives  them.’* 
Castenheda  observes  that,  “the  maisters  which  teach 
them  be  graduates  in  the  weapons  which  they  teach, 
and  they  are  called  in  their  language  Panycaes  (Pa$ik- 
kars). n  Purchas  too  gives  a  similar  account.  He 
says  that  their  masters  “teach  them,  to  run,  leap,  fencing, 
and  managing  of  the  weapons,  and  anoint  them  with 
the  oil  of  Gergelin  to  make  their  sinew  pliant  for  all 
winding  and  tumbling  gestures.  They  begin  to  go  to 
school  at  7  years  old.” 

We  have  a  fuller  description  given  by  Johnston 
( 1 6 1 1  A.  D.)  in  his  Relations  of  the  most  famous 
Kingdoms  of  the  World .  “It  is  strange  to  see  how 
ready  the  Soldiour  of  this  country  is  at  his  weapons; 


1.  P.  128. 


344  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  fL4  20. 

they  are  all  gentlemen  and  termed  Naires.  At  7  years 
of  age  they  are  put  to  school  to  learn  the  use  of  their 
weapons,  where,  to  make  them  nimble  and  active,  their 
sinews  and  joints  are  stretched  by  skilful  fellows  and 
anointed  with  Oyle  Sesamus.  By  this  anointing  they 
become  so  light  and  nimble  that  they  will  winde  and 
turn  their  bodies  as  if  they  had  no  bones,  casting  them 
forward,  backward,  high  and  low,  even  to  the  astonish¬ 
ment  of  beholders.  Their  continual  delight  is  in  their 
weapon,  persuading  themselves  that  no  nation  goeth 
beyond  them  in  skill  and  dexterity.” 

Nieuhoff  says,  “The  children  of  the  Nayros  are 
from  the  seventh  year  of  their  age  exercised  in  arms, 
and  trained  up  to  the  wars.  They  a^noint  the  limbs 
of  their  young  children  every  day  with  a  certain  oil,  to 
make  their  joints  pliable;  for  when  they  are  forced  to 
fly,  they  put  their  greatest  confidence  in  the  agility  of 
their  bodies,  and  will  in  an  instant  turn  back  upon 
their  enemies  and  attack  them  in  the  rear;  besides  that' 
in  their  flight  they  throw  their  javelins  backward  with 
great  dexterity,  and  as  soon  as  they  have  thrown  their 
darts,  they  know  how  to  shelter  behind  their  shields” 

The  training  given  at  the  Kalari  has  been  thus 
described: — “On  an  auspicious  day,  after  propitiating 
the  family  Deity  by  suitable  offerings,  and  giving  the 
Guru  his  dakshina  (presents),  the  young  boy  is  given 
the  first  lessons’  in  gymnastics.  A  certain  prepared  oil 
is  rubbed  over  the  body  to  give  flexibility  to  the  muscles 
and  he  is  to  take  exercises  till  he  perspires  profusely. 
These  first  exercises  are  meant  to  give  adaptability  to 
the  various  limbs  for  different  postures,  dexterity  in 
long  and  high  jumps  and  endurance  in  sustained  phy¬ 
sical  efforts.  When  he  has  perspired  fully,  he  is 
required  to  lie  down  flat  on  a  mat  and  the  AsSn*  begins 
to  pass  his  hands  or  feet  over  the  several  parts  of  his 
body.  This  is  called  Tirummal.  It  requires  great 
skill  and  a  strong  constitution,  ability  to  hold  the 
breath  for  a  long  time  to  undertake  this  work.  When 


MILITARY  TRAINING 


345 


N.  4.] 

the  operator  uses  his  feet,  he  supports  his  hands  on  a 
rope  tied  end  to  end  overhead.  It  is  wonderful  to  see 
him  with  this  flimsy  support  standing  wholly  on  the 
body  of  the  patient  and  moving  his  feet  swiftly  over  it 
without  giving  the  slightest  pain.  This  which  goes  by 
the  name  of  Kachchakettal ,  derived  from  the  practice  of 
tying  a  long  and  narrow  sheet  of  cloth  round  the  waist 
and  which  is  the  only  wear  during  the  process,  is  preli¬ 
minary  to  the  study  of  both  games  and  military  tactics. 
This  treatment  makes  the  body  athletic  and  strong  and 
removes  the  torpidity  of  the  muscles  and  internal  organs 
by  allowing  the  blood  to  circulate  more  freely,  and  for 
this  reason  it  is  often  resorted  to  as  a  cure  by  the  weak 
and  invalids.  Girls  also  have  to  undergo  this  process 
if  they  intend  to  take  to  dancing  and  other  cognate 
professions.  The  season  best  adapted  for  Kachchakettu 
and  usually  adopted  for  the  purpose  is  the  cold  weather 
i.  e .,  after  the  south-west  monsoon  has  set  in,  when  (as  the 
saying  goes)  the  Msran  (drummer)  lays  by  his  drum, 
and  the  toads  take  to  the  key.  So  long  as  one  desires 
to  be  an  athlete  or  a  dancer  or  a  soldier,  he  is  bound 
to  undergo  this  annually  for  a  few  days.  When  the 
body  has  become  sufficiently  elastic,  the  young  athlete 
is  taught  the  methods  of  fencing,  balancing,  jumping 
and  all  those  arts  of  attack  and  defence  which  pertain 
to  physical  skill.2 

The  Panakkar  teaches  18  kinds  of  fencing  exer¬ 
cises,  viz.* — 

(/)  Othiram 

(2)  Katakam 

(y)  Chatulam 

(4)  Mandalam 

(5)  Vnthachakram 

(6)  Sukankalam 

(7)  Vijayam 

(8)  Viswamohanam 

( 9 )  Thiryangmandalam  or  Annyonnycwi 

1.  Fencing- master. 

2‘  Malabar  Quarterly  Review ,  vol.  IV,  p,  221, 

AR 


346  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20 

(10)  Gadaya- Kheta- gahwaram 

(//)  Sruthanjayam 

( 12 )  Sowbhadram 

(/j)  Patalam 

(14)  Pur  a  jay  am 

(75)  Kayamvridhi 

(16)  Sila-Khandam 
9  •  • 

(77)  Gada  Sastram 
(18)  Anuthamam 

All  Nayars  were  not  necessarily  soldiers.  There 
were  those  who  followed  other  occupations.  As  Bar¬ 
bosa  observes,  “they  have  to  be  armed  as  knights  by  the 
hand  of  the  King  or  lord  with  whom  they  live,  and 
until  they  have  been  so  equipped,  they  cannot  bear 
arms,  nor  call  themselves  Nayars,  but  they  enjoy  the 
freedom  and  exemption  and  advantages  of  the  Nayars 
in  many  things.”1  Not  only  are  they  prevented  from 
wearing  weapons  in  spite  of  their  being  trained  to  their 
skilful  use  from  the  age  of  7,  they  are  also  prohibited 
from  entering  into  combats  before  being  knighted. 
The  process  of  conferring  knighthood  is  thus  described 
by  Purchas,  on  the  authority  of  early  Portuguese 
travellers.  “He  (the  Nayar)  is  dubbed  or  created  by 
the  King  who  commandeth  to  gird  him  with  a  sword, 
and,  laying  his  right  hand  upon  his  head,  muttereth 
some  words  softly,  and  afterwards  dubbeth  him  saying, 
‘ Have  a  regard  to  keep  these  Brahmans  and  their  kine\ 
These  are  the  two  great  commandments  of  the  Brah¬ 
man  Law.  The  King  sometimes  commits  this  cere¬ 
mony  to  their  Panicall  (Pa^ikkar)  or  master  in  the  feats 
of  arms,  whom  they  ever  honour  as  their  father,  and, 
next  to  the  King  most  reverence”2  “The  Nayars  were 
in  ancient  times,”  say  Days,  “the  Militia  of  the  country 
and  held  their  lands  on  military  tenure,  liable  to  be 
called  out  at  any  time  for  active  service.  The  Raja  of 
Cochin  was  the  head  of  this  Militia  in  his  own  country 

1,  P.  128 

2.  627 


NAMBIDI 


347 


N.  6.] 

and  under  him  were  Namburi  commandants.  When 
each  was  able  to  bear  arms  he  presented  the  Raja  with 
a  nuzzur  and  received  weapons  in  return.  They  were 
trained  to  warfare  from  infancy”1. 

The  institution  of  Kaiaries  or  gymnasiums,  at 
which  the  Panikkars  or  fencing-masters  imparted  phy¬ 
sical  training  and  the  knowledge  of  the  use  of  weapons 
to  the  Nsyar  youth  said  to  have  been  originally  orga¬ 
nised  by  ParaSu  Rama,  continued  to  exist  in  full  work¬ 
ing  order  till  the  British  occupation  of  Malabar.  They 
were  half  gymnasiums,  half  chapels  where  the  Panikkar 
or  Kufup  worshipped  and  propitiated  his  tutelary 
goddess.  The  Kaiaries  or  fencing-schools  were  invari¬ 
ably  in  front  of  or  at  least  in  the  vicinity  of  temples 
dedicated  to  Bhadra  Kali.  Fra  Bartolomeo,  writing  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  18th  century,  in  referring  to  the 
physique  of  the  Nayars,  says,  “The  frequent  use  of  the 
cold  bath,  repeated  rubbing  the  body  with  cocoanut 
oil,  and  the  juice  of  the  Ingia  (Incha)  plant  as  well  as 
their  exercises  which  have  a  great  resemblance  to  the 
Juvenelia,  and  which  I  have  often  seen  in  Malabar,  all 
contribute  to  increase  their  strength  and  agility.”2  In 
the  opening  years  of  the  19th  century,  Buchanan  des¬ 
cribes  the  defence  of  the  country  as  resting  “entirely 
on  such  of  the  Nayars  as  received  arms  from  the 
Tamuri”  (Zamorin).3 

5.  Division  into  two  classes.  That  the 
classification  of  Nsyars  given  by  our  author  is  not 
strictly  accurate  is  clear  from  the  detailed  account  we 
have  already  given  of  them.  Here  we  shall  make  an 
attempt  to  identify  the  classes  named  by  him. 

6.  Nambidi  or  Nampidi.  These  do  not 
strictly,  speaking,  belong  to  the  Nayar  class.  They  are 
degraded  Brahmans  or  Nambutiris.  Of  these,  there 

i»  316. 

2.  261. 

3,  Voi.  2.  p.  84. 


348 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


are  two  classes,  the  thread-wearing  and  the  threadless. 
To  their  origin  we  have  already  adverted.  Though 
cast  out  of  the  pale  of  Brahmanhood,  they  were  given 
tracts  of  land  over  which  they  ruled,  and  were  accorded 
privileges  akin  to  those  of  the  Nambutiris.  Those  enti¬ 
tled  to  wear  the  sacred  thread,  have  Gsyatri,  /.  e .,  the 
most  important  Manfra  of  the  Vedas  for  the  propitiation 
of  the  Sun-God.  Nambutiri  Brahmans  officiate  as 
priests  at  their  marriage  ceremonies,  Sraddhas,  and  puri¬ 
fication  at  the  end  of  birth  or  death  pollution,  which 
lasts  for  io  days.  They  follow  the  MarumakkattSyam 
Law  of  inheritance.  The  Tali  is  tied  by  their  own 
castemen.  Nambutiris  or  their  own  caste  men  unite 
themselves  in  Sambandham  with  Nampiti  women. 
They  are  not  allowed  to  sit  in  the  same  line  \yith  Nam¬ 
butiris  at  feasts  and  eat  with  them.  In  Travancore,  Ela- 
yatus  perform  the  required  priestly  functions  to  those 
who  are  hot  allowed  to  wear  the  sacred  thread.  Their 
women  are  called  Malpads  Jn  Malabar  and  Cochin, 
Muntalu  in  Travancore  and,  among  their  men,  the 
chief  is  known  as  Karanavapad .  The  Ainikur 
Nampitis,  or  the  five  families  of  Nampitis  already 
enumerated,  are  historically  and  socially  the  most  im¬ 
portant;  the  eldest  male  member  possesses  the  honorofic 
title  of  Kakkat  Karanavapad ,  enjoying  special  privi¬ 
leges  at  the  hands  of  the  Cochin  Raja,  as  they  were 
once  the  heads  of  the  Cochin  Militia.  These  belong 
to  the  thread-wearing  class,  while  the  Vgnganattil 
Nampiti,  otherwise  known  as  the  Kollangode  Nampiti, 

belongs  to  the  threadless  class. 

*  • 

7.  Nampiar.  This  term  is  applied  to  four 
classes  of  people,  of  whom  one  alone  belongs  to  a  sub¬ 
division  of  the  Nayar  class.  The  three  others  belong 
to  the  Ampalavasi  or  temple  servant  class,  who  range 
between  the  Nambutiris  and  Nayars.  The  Nayar 
Nampiars  were  once  chiefs  of  territories,  and  were  a 
very  influential  body,  especially  in  North  Malabar, 
The  Iruvalinad  Naippiars  wielded  great  power  in 


SAMANDRA 


N.  8.J 


349 


Malabar,  and  the  English  East  India  Company  entered 
into  political  and  commercial  engagements  with  them. 

8.  Samandra.  These  belong  to  the  Anulo- 
maja  or  mixed  class,  who  are  frequently  considered  to 
belong  to  the  N2yar  class.  The  Jatinirnaya  does  not 
mention  this  community.  It  is  said  that  ParaSu  Rama, 
the  organiser  of  Malabar,  did  not  aim  at  anything  like 
completeness  in  his  division  of  castes,  but  that 
Sankaracharyar,  who  made,  modifications,  subsequently 
established  a  distinct  class  known  as  Samanjan,  a  lower 
section  of  pure  Kshetfiyas.  As  to  their  origin,  tradition 
traces  them  to  those  prudent  K§hejriyas  who  fled  into 
the  forests,  giving  up  their  sacred  thread  to  escape  the 
fury  of  ParaSu  Rama,  the  Brahman  warrior.  In  those 
uninhabited  regions  they  seem  to  have  forgotten  their 
Sandhyavandanam  prayers,  and  came  to  be  reduced  to 
the  position  of  Sudras.  Thus  they  came  to  be  called 
Samantrakas ,  Samantas ,  i.  e .,  those  having  no  Manjra 
at  all.  But  as  Mr.  Stuart  rightly  observes,  “neither 
philology  nor  anything  else  supports  this  fable”.  If 
they  are  without  Mantras,  they  ought  to  be  Amantrakas 
and  not  Samanjrakas.  Another  account  regarding 
their  origin  is  that  the  Perumals,  who  came  to  rule 
over  Malabar,  consorted  with  high  class  Nsyar  women, 
and  their  issue  were  given  chiefships  over  varying 
extents  of  territory.  These  were  called  Ssmanfas. 

There  are  various  sub-divisions  and  designations 
among  them,  (i)  Atiyoti,  (2)  Ugnajiri,  (3)  Pa^itsla, 
(4)  EfSfci,  (5)  Vaiioti,  (6)  Netumgati,  (7)  Urjiffiri,  (8) 
TirumulpSd  and  (9),  KarftSvu.  Numbers  4,  5  and  6 
derive  their  names  from  the  localities  they  originally 
occupied,  viz*%  Ernad,  Valluvanad,  and  Neduganad, 
Of  these,  Ernad  and  Valluvanad  were  important  terri¬ 
tories  at  the  commencement  of  the  Malabar  Era,  and 
the  chiefs  of  these  are  found  cited  as  witnesses  in  the 
Syrian  Christian  Copper  Plates.  The  Zamorin  was 
the  ruler  of  the  Ernad  territory,*  and  belongs  to  the 
ErSji  class  and  was  often  styled  as  Eradi  '  Tirumulpad 
in  old  days.  The  other  designations  by  which  the 


360  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  ao; 

class  is  known  are  (i)  'J'irumulpad,  e .  the  Tirumul- 
psds  of  Nilamboorj  Manchery  and’  Amarampalam;  (2) 
KafftSvu,  as  those  of  Chuntampattai  and  Cherplasseri, 
all  in  British  Malabar.  These  designations  are  only 
honorofic,  and  do  not  indicate  the  caste  or  class  to 
which  they  belong.  In  Travancore  their  women  are 
generally  known  as  Kovilammas ,  or  ladies  of  Palaces. 
An  Unnyatiri  woman  is  known  as  Pillayatiri.  They 
wear  the  three  special  ornaments  of  the  K§he{riyas, 
viz.)  the  Cherutali ,  the  Entrant  and  the  Kuzkal . 

Of  the  sub-divisions  above  mentioned,  the  Uttnya - 
tiris  regard  themselves  as  a  higher  class  than  the  others 
as  they  employ  an  Aryapattar  to  tie  the  Tali  at  their 
marriages  and  not  a  'firumulpad  or  K§he{riya  as  the 
rest  do.  The  Unittiris  and  the  Unnyatins  do  not  differ 
much  and  are  almost  the  same.  The  word  Unittiri 
means  a  venerable  boy,  and  is  merely  a  title  of  dignity. 
The  word  Atiyoti  is  sometimes  traced  to  the  word 
Atiyan  or  slave  or  vassal.  There  is  a  tradition  that 
the  Raja  of  Kadatanad  sought  the  aid  of  the 
Kolattiri,  who  agreed  to  restore  him  to  his  lost  posses¬ 
sions  on  his  subjecting  himself  as  a  vassal  of  the 
Kolaftiri  Raja.  Hence  the  term  Atiyoti,  a  slave  or 
vassal.  The  word  ParjcJsla  comes  from  Bha$dsra{fil, 
meaning,  ‘in  or  belonging  to  the  Royal  treasury.’  These 
were  at  one  time  ruling  chiefs  of  small  territories.  It 
is  significant  that  most  of  the  Malabar  Rajas  are 
Ssman$as. 

As  to  their  occupation,  the  more  important  of  them 
who  were  once  ruling  chiefs,  are  still  great  landlords, 
though  with  faded  glory,  exercising  considerable  influ¬ 
ence  and  authority  in  the  community.  The  lesser  class 
occupy  themselves  as  personal  attendants  on  the  male 
and  female  members  of  Royal  Families  and  a  few  have 
taken  to  the  learned  professions. 

Their  houses,  specially  those  of  the  higher  order, 
were  till  recently  known  as  KoftSrams  or  Palaces  while 
those  of  the  commonality  are  called  Mafhams,  The 


S  AM  AND  R  A 


351 


N.  8.] 

personal  names  generally  given  to  males  among  them 
are:  Rarichan,  Kovuripi,  Kgluppi,  and  to  females 
Ikkavu,  Ittuppi,  Nankuppi,  Pattunpi,  IttiySchchi,  Kavu, 
Kunjikutti  and  Ittilachchi.  Important  names  among 
them  are  Kuftan,  Appu  for  males  and  Ammu  for 
females.  Their  sect  mark  consists  of  three  parallel 
horizontal  lines  of  ashes  or  Bhasmam  on  the  forehead, 
breast,  arms,  and  on  the  shoulders.  Their  caste  govern¬ 
ment  rests  with  the  Naipbupri  Vaidlkans,  and  a  lower 
class  of  the  Naipbutiris  act  as  their  priests.  They 
follow  the  MarumakkattSyam  system  of  inheritance  and 
succession. 

As  soon  as  a  child  is  born,  it  is  taken  to  the  mater¬ 
nal  uncle  who  gives  it  a  little  honey  on  a  gold  ring. 
The  other  ceremonies  are  the  Nsmakarapa  (the  naming 
of  the  child),  the  Ni§hkramapa  (taking  the  child  out) 
both  of  which  are  performed  along  with  AnnaprSSana 
(rice-giving).  The  Gapapaji  Puja  and  Purinyaha  follow 
the  Nishkramapa.  The  maternal  uncle  gives  the  name 
of  the  child  after  formally  seeking  the  permission  of  the 
Brahmans  assembled.  The  tonsure  takes  place  only  in 
the  1 6th  year. 

For  females,  the  age  for  the  Taliketfu  marriage  is 
from  the  7th  to  the  1 2th  year.  On  the  day  previous  to 
the  marriage,  the  maternal  uncle  and,  in  his  absence, 
the  brother  of  the  girl  ties  the  Pratisara  or  string  of 
vow  round  the  waist.  During  the  Muhurtta  or  auspi¬ 
cious  moment  for  tying  the  Tali,  Brshmanipattu  (song 
by  a  Pu$hpaka  woman)  is  sung.  The  Tali  is  tied  by 
Tirumulpads,  who  are  K$he{fiyas,  and  are  brought  in 
procession.  The  Brahmans  perform  the  Puppyaha, 
Gapapap  Puja,  and  the  sacrifice  to  the  fire.  After  these 
come  the  MukhacJarSana,  or  looking  at  the  face,  followed 
by  Mangalyadharana  or  tying  of  the  {ali.  The  son-in-law 
has  to  perform  the  AupSsana,  unaccompanied  by 
vedic  hymns,  and,  during  the  four  days  of  the  mar¬ 
riage,  the  bride  and  bridegroom  are  not  allowed  to 
bathe.  The  Sambandham,  or  the  real  union  of  man  and 
woman  in  matrimony,  comes  later  on,  when  the  Kovil" 


352  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  2d. 

ammamar  are  wedded  to  Brahmans  or  K§hetriyas. 
During  pregnancy,  in  the  sixth  month  after  conception, 
the  Puiikuji  is  observed.  The  K§he{riyas  do  not 
observe  this  ceremony  though  the  NSyars  do. 

In  his  History  of  Travancore>  Mr.  Shangunny 
Menon  points  out  that  there  is  considerable  difference 
between  those  who- are  known  as  Samanfas  and  Saman- 
ter.  In  the  Kerala  Mahatmyam  and  the  Halasya 
Mahatmyam ,  K§he{riyas  are  called  Samanjas,  and  allu¬ 
sions  to  the  King  of  Chgra  and  Kerala  are  often  made 
as  Samanfas.  While  the  Samanten  is  the  creature  of 
SankarSchsriar,  the.  Samanfa  had  existed  long  before 
him. 

9.  Patitsjan.  If  this  word  stands  for  Pafifan,  or 
one  who  is  degraded  or  fallen,  then  there  is,  according 
to  the  Jatinirnaya ,  a  class  which  is  composed  of  seven 
sub-divisions,  who  are  reckoned  as  coming  below 
Nayars.  These  are  referred  to  by  our  author  in  Letter 
No.  XXI.  But  the  disjunctive  “or”  shows  that  our 
author  must  have  used  the  word  Patitsjan  to  indicate  a 
class  of  Nayars  whom  he  calls  “Belerte”  Nayars.  Now 
Day  notes  a  class  called  Veiiat  Nayars  or  Pallichans 
and  Gundhert  also  mentions  the  word  VeliaJ  Nayar, 
another  name  by  which  Pallichans  are  designated.  The 
Pallichans  are  bearers  of  the  palanquins  of  the  Brah¬ 
mans  and  Malabar  chieftains.  They  are  also  employed 
to  carry  swords  and  shields  before  the  chieftains  when 
they  go  out.  They  are  said  to  be  lapses  from  a  higher 
order  of  Nayars.  In  Travancore,  there  is  a  class  known 
as  Veliyatfu  Nayar.  They  are  also  called  KallGr  Nayar 
and  Matavar,  also  Puliya^tu  Nayar  and  Pulikka  Pa$ik- 
kar.  They  are  believed  to  have  been  good  marksmen 
in  ancient  days.  They  help  the  Atikal,  a  class  of 
temple  servants,  by  drawing  the  image  of  Bhacjrakali, 
and  are  useful  to  the  Chakyar  in  carrying  his  accoutre¬ 
ments  and  ornaments.  As  their  ceremonies,  mode  ol 
living,  etc.,  are  the  same  as  those  of  other  Nsyars,  no 
separate  account  of  them  is  called  for. 


N.  12.]  SANERATOJAAR  353 

io.  Bellalen  or  Bellares.  Lower  down  in 
the  same  paragraph  we  see  our  author  mention  another 
class  of  Veiisia  Sudran.  In  some  parts  of  Malabar, 
the  highest  order  of  Nsyars  goes  by  the  name  of  Vei- 
Ijymaksr  who,  in  other  parts,  are  called  Iilakksr.  But 
there  is  a  distinct  class  known  as  NanchinSt  Yelklss, 
who  were  originally  Pandi  Vellalas  of  the  East  Coast, 
but  who,  on  becoming  subject  to  the  Travancore  king, 
adopted  some  of  the  characteristic  customs  and  manners 
of  the  Malayalees. 

ii.  Wellek  Tallenairs.  Properly  Veia¬ 
kkat  -}-  Ela  -f  Nsyars,  i.  e «,  a  low  class  among 
Nsyars  who  are  barbers  by  professions  called  because 
it  is  their  right  to  get  the  leaf  (Ela)  placed  before  the 
lamp  (Veiakkat).  In  Malabar,  it  is  the  practice  to 
have  a. plantain  leaf  placed  in  front  of  a  lighted  lamp  on 
which  will  be  served  all  the  viands  prepared  for  a  feast 
on  festive  days,  such  as  one’s  birthday,  Tiru  Onam, 
etc.  This  lamp  and  plantain  leaf,  with  the  viands, 
occupy  a  prominent  position  in  the  dining  hall, 
generally  facing  the  chief  member  of  the  house,  or  of 
him  whose  birthday  is  being  celebrated.  The  viands 
on  the  leaf  are  supposed  to  be  placed  there  for  the 
benefit  of  the  God  Ganapati.  Just  before  the  diners 
leave  their  places,  the  lamp  is  removed  towards  the 
north,  but  never  towards  the  south,  and  the  leaf  with 
the  viands  is  claimed  by  the  barber.  Hence  he  is  called 
Veiakkat  +  ela  +  avail  >  or  he  who  takes  the  leaf  spread 
before  the  lamp.  Another  derivation  suggested  is 
Velukkatalavan — he  who  shaves  the  head  clean- 

i2*  Saneratojaar.  Stands  for  Sankarschariar 
whose  name  will  be  found  to  be  more  correctly  given 
by  the  author  in  his  letter  XXII  as  Sancaratchar1. 

1  It  will  be  superfluous  to  write  a  long  note  on  Sankaracharya 
here,  as  there  are  numberless  books  that  treat  of  him  and  of  the 
grand  system  of  Philosophy  of  which  he  is  the  founder.  But  it 
may  not  be  generally  known  that  he  was  a  native  of  Cochin-,  for, 
till  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  A.  D.  (945  M.  E.)5  when 
Kalati,  his  native  place,  was  given  over  to  Travancore,  it  formed 
an  integral  part  of  the  Cochin  State.  Ed. 


354 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20, 

13.  Sudren.  A  high  order  of  Nsyars  who  are 
found  in  Cochin  and  British  Malabar;  they  are  supposed 
to  be  those  who  followed  the  Nambu{iris  when  they 
emigrated  into  Malabar,  and  who  are  still  attached  to 
Nambu{iri  Illams. 

14.  Some  lords,  but  most  hold  estates  in  fief. 

Malabar  from  very  early  times  was  governed  on  feudal 
principles.1  From  its  original  conquest  and  colonisa¬ 
tion  by  Parasu  Rgma  through  the  period  of  the  Brahman 
theocracy  and  the  Perumsl  Vice  royalty*  and  even 

r.  The  theory  that  some  propound  that  Parasu  Rama  made 
free  gifts  of  lands  in  Kerala  to  the  Nambutiris  alone,  and  that 
these  form  the  original  landed  proprietors  there,  will  neither  stand 
the  test  of  reason  nor  of  actual  facts.  If  this  theory  is  true,  one 
should  expect  the  whole  of  Kerala  to  belong  to  Tulu,  Kanarese  and 
Malabar  Brahmans.  But  there  are  several  of  these  who  do  not 
own  an  incli  of  Jenmam  land;  and  even  those  that  have  Jenmam 
lands  have  them  not  in  a  block  or  even  near  their  family 
residences* 

Malayadri  Mahatviyam ,  after  giving  the  boundaries  of  Malabar 
as  Payasvini  (Kanjirottu  pula)  in  the  north^  Kanya  Kumari  in  the 
south,  Malaya  mountain  in  the  east  and  ocean  on  the  west,  says 
that  the  country  was  named  “  asiprasthanam  (  asi=sword), 
because  it  is  always  governed  by  Naka  chiefs,  who  invariably 
bear  swords  in  their  arms,  and  because  the  use  of  swords  and 
deftness  in  such  use  mark  out  this  region.”  Sahyadrika?idam% 
another  Brahminical  work,  describes  Malabar  as  the  land  ‘♦where 
thrive  Sudra  Kings  called  Nayakas  who  give  away  to  suppliants 
all  their  wealth.” 

As  late  as  1502,  Varthema  writes:  “The  first  class  of  pagans 
in  Calicut  are  called  Brahmans,  the  second  are  Naeri  who  are  the- 
same  as  gentle  folks  amongst  us.  They  are  obliged  to  wear  sword 
and  shield,  or  bows  or  lances.  When  they  go  through  the  street, 
if  they  did  not  carry  arms,  they  would  no  longer  be  gentlemen.” 

History  will  bear  out  the  fact  that  Malabar  was  for  a  long 
period  “parcelled  out  among  an  incredibly  large  number  of  chief¬ 
taincies  and  principalities  most  of  which  were  controlled  by  Nayar 
chiefs  called  Rajas,  Samantas,  Matampis,  Natuvazhies,  Desa- 
vazhies,  Kaimals,  Kartavus  and  Kurups.”  “Many  of  these  are 
even  to-day  full  proprietors  of  tanatu  holdings.  In  North  Malabar 
there  are-more  Nayar  jenmies  than  Nambutiri  jenmies.  There  are 
several  Taluks  in  Travancore  where  jenmam  property  of  Nambutiris 


SOME  LORDS 


355 


X.  14.J 

after  the  disruption  of  the  petty  Kerala  empire  and  its 
distribution  into  an  infinitesimal  number  of  small  states, 
all  along,  the  political  and  social  government  of  the  coun¬ 
try  was  based  on  feudal  principles.  In  its  social  aspect, 
feudalism  prevails  to  no  inconsiderable  extent  even  now. 
The  complicated  system  of  land  tenures  that  still  exists 
in  Malabar  unerringly  points  to  its  feudal  origin.  From 
very  early  times,  perhaps  even  before  the  advent  of  the 
Brahmans,  there  had  existed  a  complete  military  organi¬ 
sation  on  feudal  lines.  The  unit  was  the  DeSam 
presided  over  by  the  Desavsli.  A  number  of  Desams 
constituted  a  Nad,  presided  over  by  a  NatuvSli  or 
local  chieftain,  who  was  again  subject  to  the  Raja.  In 
the  early  years  of  the  19th  century,  Mr.  Warden,  Col¬ 
lector  of  Malabar,  in  reporting  to  the  Revenue  Board, 
observed  that  “each  state  was  partitioned  into  gradi- 
tions  of  military  divisions  from  the  Naduvazi  to  the 
fiesavazu  *  Every  division  and  sub-division  was  desig¬ 
nated  by  the  allotted  quota  of  Njyars  it  was  required  to 

is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule.”  Even  in  Cochin,  the 
families  of  Paliyam  and  of  Mannatiars,  and  of  a  great  number  of 
ancient  Nayar  families  in  Chittur  and  elsewhere,  not  to  speak  of 
those  of  Karthavus  and  Ka finals,  tell  the  same  tale. 

“  That  the  ancient  form  of  Government  in  Malabar  was 
republican  or  oligarchical,  admits  of  no  doubt.  The  Nayars,  a 
race  of  hereditary  warriors,  were  predominant  in  the  national 
councils.  They  as  well  as  the  Nambutiris  moved  harmoniously 
together  and  were  mutually  dependent.”  They  were  on  terms  of 
great  confidence  too.  It  is  idle  to  contend  that  one  class  alone 
appropriated  all  the  lands.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  easily  seen 
that  both  were  jenmies  from  time  immemorial. 

The  downfall  of  Buddhism  and  the  ascendency  of  Brahminism, 
the  fact  that,  in  later  days,  Brahinaswam  lands  became  tax-free 
like  Devaswam  lands,  the  confiscation  of  lands  by  powerful  rulers 
against  whom  the  chiefs  rebelled  and,  above  all,  the  necessity  the 
members  of  the  warrior  class  felt  for  finding  a  protecting  hand 
for  their  lands  wdien  they  had  to  absent  on  war  service,  these 
gave  rise  to  Kanom  and  other  allied  tenures,  which,  in  a  great 
way,  are  responsible  for  the  disproportionate  accumulation  of 
lands  in  one  class.  (Vide  pp.  49  to  52  of  the  Report  of  the 
Jcnmi-Kudiyan  Committee  of  Travancore.)  Ed, 


356  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

bring  into  the  field”.  He  adds  that  “the  designations 
of  the  different  military  divisions,  large  and  small,  held 
their  dignities  as  hereditary  in  their  respective  families 
and  had  appropriate  titles  of  distinction.  They  were 
not  always  in  attendance  on  the  Raja’s  person.  If  not 
required  on  particular  state  duties  or  religious  services, 
they  were  only  called  out  for  defensive  and  offensive  war¬ 
fare”.  From  the  days  of  the  Perumals,  the  country  had 
been  parcelled  into  a  congeries  of  petty  lordships  organi¬ 
sed  into  hierarchies  beginning  with  the  slaves,  who  were 
attached  to  the  lands,  and  ending  with  the  Raja,  who- sat 
at  the  apex  of  the  system,  and  held  social  and  political 
sway  over  the  territories  ruled  by  them.  The  greater 
chiefs  never  maintained  any  standing  army.  They 
always  called  on  their  vassals  to  attend  on  them  at  the 
head  of  their  retainers  to  follow  and  fight  for  them 
whenever  required. 

The  origin  of  feudalism  in  Malabar  may  be  traced 
to  the  pre-eminence  of  the  women  in  the  family,  the 
unsettled  state  of  the  country  in  early  days,  and  the 
dangerous  commotions  of  the  times,  which  made  it 
indispensable  for  the  weaker  members  of  the  community 
to  place  themselves  under  the  protection  of  the  stronger 
ones.  This  is  sufficiently  evidenced  by  the  nature  of 
the  land  tenures  of  Malabar.  The  whole  land  is  said 
to  be  the  free-hold  of  the  Nambutiri  Brahmans,  who 
derive  their  right  from  an  alleged  gift  by  Paragu  Rama, 
There  is  no  foundation  for  this  unqualified  statement* 
How  the  lands  passed  over  to  the  Brahman  theocracy 
which  governed  Malabar  in  early  times  is  clear  enough. 
Holding  these  lands  in  freehold,  the  Brahmans  seem  to 
have  carved  out  lesser  tenures  in  favour  of  their  tenants 
such  as,  Atima,  Anubhavam,  Ka$am,  Pa$ayam,  etc. 
When  intertribal  wars  and  convulsions  within  the  com¬ 
munity  were  frequent,  the  tendency  would  be  for  the 
stronger  to  absorb  the  weaker,  and  one  can  well  under¬ 
stand  why  owners  of  landed  estates  thought  it  more 
secure  to  place  them  in  the  hands  of  the  more  power* 
ful,  and  take  them  back  on  under  tenures  in  return  for 


SOME  LORDS 


357 


N.  14.I 

which  their  liege  lords  undertook  to  protect  them. 
Thus  a  number  of  big  landlords  came  into  existence, 
and  some  of  them  were  able  to  secure  political  autho¬ 
rity  also  over  certain  defined  areas.  The  feudalism  of 
Malabar  resembled  the  corresponding  continental 
system  of  Europe  in  the  13th  and  14th  centuries,  rather 
than  the  one  introduced  into  England  by  William  the 
Conqueror.  The  petty  chieftains  more  or  less  exercised 
the  right,  not  simply  of  taking  up  arms  between  them¬ 
selves,  but  also  were  so  far  free  and  independent  as  to 
wage  war  against  their  own  feudal  heads  themselves. 
In  Letter  IX,  our  author,  in  noticing  the  tributaries  of 
the  Cochin  Raja,  “who  were  considered  the  pillars  of 
the  kingdom”,  vis**  Porcad,  Berkencoor  (Wadakenkoor) 
Paroor,  and  Mangati  (Alangad),  observes  “these 
princes  are  independent,  but  are  bound  to  respect  the 
Raja  as  their  chief,  who  settles  the  disputes  of  the 
kingdom,  and  whom  they  must  assist  against  the  com¬ 
mon  enemy.  They  may,  however,  have  private  wars 
amongst  themselves,  and  even  against  the  Raja.” 

The  descendants  of  the  early  Nsyar  chiefs  still 
maintain  and  assert  some  sort  of  authority,  socially  at 
any  rate,  in  spite  of  British  supremacy,  over  their 
tenantry,  and  even  the  British  Government,  in  assuming 
political  power  over  the  many  states,  have  left  to  its 
whilom  rulers  their  position  as  heads  of  society.  The 
Ayyayira  Prabhu  Karla ,  or  the  lord  of  the  five 
thousand,  and  the  Patinayira  Prabhu  or  the  head  of 
the  Polnad  ten  thousand,  and  other  chiefs  and  commu¬ 
nities  of  a  similar  description,  represent  the  original 
feudal  chiefs,  who  were  heads  of  5,000  and  10,000  and 
of  the  early  military  organisation.  We  learn  from  the 
Keralolpathy  that  the  last  CheramSn  PerumSl,  in  parti¬ 
tioning  his  petty  empire,  allotted  to  each  a  number  of 
Nsyars  who  were  to  serve  them  as  soldiers.  Thus  to 
the  greater  chiefs  of  Kolajtuftad  and  /JTpp2ppnr,  u 
Chcrakkal  and  Travancore,  were  allotted  350,000  men 
each,  and  a  proportionately  lower  number  to  the  lesser 


$58  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  io. 

chiefs.  Mr.  Graemme,  the  Special  Commissioner 
sent  to  Malabar,  has  pointed  out  that  a  chief  who 
could  not  muster  a  hundred  Nsyars  was  not  entitled  to 
be  styled  a  NstuvSli  and  the  head  of  any  number  below 
that  was  only  a  DeSavSli.  Land  tax,  as  such,  was 
altogether  unknown,  and  each  of  the  chiefs,  from  the 
Raja  to  the  DSsavsli  was  possessed  of  lands  cultivated 
by  slaves  attached  to  the  soil,  out  of  which  he  main¬ 
tained  himself.  Other  sources  of  income  distinctly 
traceable  to  a  feudal  origin  have  already  been  referred 
to  as  perquisites  claimed  by  the  Rajas  and  chiefs. 
With  the  advent  of  the  British  power,  the  old  system 
crumbled  mainly  with  regard  to  its  political  aspect. 
The  chiefs  still  retain  much  of  their  social  power,  and 
lord  it  over  their  poor  tenantry  to  a  large  extent.  In 
the  interior  parts,  no  marriage  can  be  celebrated,  no- 
house  can  be  raised  to  a  second  story  or  tiled,  no  one 
can  ride  in  a  palanquin,  no  woman  can  bear  gold 
bracelets,  no  one  can  style  himself  a  Mgnon  or  Panikkar, 
or  do  a  thousand  other  little  things,  without  the  con¬ 
sent,  often  times  evidenced  by  the  writing  of  the  local 
chiefs,  who  have  to  be  paid  heavily  for  the  grant  of 
these  privileges.  The  tenants  have  to  address  their 
lords  in  honorofic  terms,  such  as,  Tampuran  or  Tam- 
purstti,  or  Prince  and  Princess,  and,  in  referring  to 
themselves,  use  abject  and  debasing  phraseology  such 
as  Adiyan  (your  slave).  While  the  lord’s  food  is  ‘honey 
and  nectar’,  the  tenant’s  is  but  ‘gritty  rice’,  the  lord’s 
house  is  ‘a  palace’,  his  own,  a  ‘dung  heap’  and  so  on. 
The  lord  sits  in  judgment  in  matters  of  social  derilic- 
tions,  and  sees  his  orders  carried  out  in  their  integrity 
by  a  system  of  boycotting  which  is  essentially  oppres¬ 
sive  and  grievous.  Under  his  command  no  member 
of  the  community  would  minister  to  the  social  wants 
of  the  condemned  delinquent,  who  is,  practically  cut  off 
from  all  society  and  friends.  The  village  washerman 
will  not  wash  his  cloths,  the  barber  will  not  shave  him, 
he  will  not  be  allowed  to  worship  in  the  village  temple, 


N.  15.]  NAYARS  VN  ATTENDANCE  ON  RAJAS  359 

the  priests  will  not  attend  to  any  of  his  ceremonies,  etc. 
Thus  it  will  be  observed  that  the  descendants  of  the 
old  feudal  chiefs  are  still  a  power,  more'  for  evil  than 
for  good,  in  Malabar,  despite  the  overpowering  autho¬ 
rity  of  the  British  Government.  The  power  is  waning, 
but  still  it  is  there. 

The  territorial  lords  mentioned  in  this  paragraph 
are  generally  styled  Karthavus ,  Animals ,  Nambidrs , 
etc.,  in  case  of  their  being  Nsyars. 

15.  Nayars  in  attendance  on  Rajas.  In 
addition  to  the  Nayars  forming  the  Militia  of  the 
land,  on  whom  rested  the  defence  of  the  country 
in  the  absence  of  any  regularly  constituted  standing 
army,  the  Rajas  always  kept  by  their  side  a  number 
of  them  as  retainers  to  attend  on  their  persons. 
Barbosa  tells  us  that  ‘‘these  people  accompany  their 
lords  day  and  night — little  is  given  them  for  eating  and 
sleeping,,  and  for  serving  and  doing  their  duty,  and 
they  sleep  upon  a  bare  bench  to  wait  for  the  person 
whom  they  serve,  and  sometimes  they  do  not  eat  more 
than  once  a  day.  Many  of  them  content  themselves 
with  about  200  Maravedis  of  rice  (this  may  be  estimated 
for  the  value  of  rice  150  to  200  Maravedis  the  4 
bushels  or  90  lbs.)  each  month  for  themselves  and  the 
servant  that  attends  them,  and  they  have  small  expenses 
for  they  have  little  pay.”1  Again,  “these  Nayars 
whom  the  King  has  received  as  his,  he  never  dismisses, 
however  old  they  may  be;  on  the  contrary  they  always 
receive  their  pay  and  rations,  and  he  grants  favours  to 
whomever  has  served  well,  and  if  some  years  should 
pass  without  their  being  paid,  some  four  or  five  hun¬ 
dred  of  these  aggrieved  rise  up,  and  go  in  a  body  to 
the  palace,  and  send  word  to  the  King  that  they  are 
going  away  dismissed,  to  take  service  under  another 
King,  because  he  does  not  give  them  food.  Then  the 
King  sends  to  beg  them  to  have  patience,  etc.,  that  he 
will  send  and  pay  them  immediately.  And  if  he  does 
not  immediately  give  them  a  third  part  of  what  is 

due,  and  an  order  for  the  payment  of  the  rest,  they 

it  Page  126- 


360  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L,  20. 

go  away  to  another  King  wherever  it  appears  to 
them  that  they  can  best  suit  themselves ;  and  they 
engage  with  him,  and  he  receives  them  willingly  and 
gives  them  food  for  13  days,  before  he  has  them  enrol¬ 
led  for  pay.  And  during  this  time  this  King  sends  to 
enquire  of  their  King  if  he  intends  to  send  and  pay 
them,  and  if  he  does  not  pay  them,  then  he  receives 
them  in  his  pay,  and  gives  them  the  same  allowances 
which  they  had  in  their  own  country,  from  which  and 
from  their  King;  in  such  a  case  they  remain  disnatur- 
alised.  And  many  undertake,  but  few  perform  this, 
because  their  King  grants  them  a  remedy,  and  holds  it 
to  be  a  great  disgrace  should  they  go.  When  these 
NSyars  go  to  the  wars,  their  pay  is  served  out  to  them 
every  day  as  long  as  the  war  lasts ;  it  is  4  Zaras  per  day 
each  man,  which  are  worth  5  Maravedis,  (/.  e.  20 
Maravedis  a  day  about  3  times  the  peace  allowance, 
Ramusis  says  40  Cas  a  day  which  are  40  Maravedis;  the 
Lisbon  Edition  has  4  laros  a  day)  with  which  they 
provide  themselves  *  *  *  .  The  King  is  obliged 

to  maintain  the  mother  ancj  family  of  any  Nair  who 
may  die  in  the  war,  and  the  names  of  those  persons  are 
at  once  written  down  for  their  maintenance.  And  if 
these  Nairs  are  wounded,  the  King  has  them  cured  at 
his  expense,  besides  their  pay,  and  has  food  given  them 
all  their  lives  or  until  they  are  cured  of  their  wounds.”1 
The  Revenue  accounts  of  the  States  of  Travancore  and 
Cochin  used  to  show  lands  registered  in  the  names  of 
those  who  have  died  in  the  wars  of  their  country,  by 
way  of  provision  made  for  the  maintenance  of  those 
they  have  left  behind  them.  These  tenures  were  called 
ChSvStftu  Virithi,  i.e.  ‘provision  for  the  family  of  the 
killed.’ 2  Vartheraa  observes,  “To  the  said  Naeri  he 
(the  king)  gives  pay  to  each,  4  Carlini  the  month,  and 
in  time  of  war  he  gives  half  a  ducat  and  they  live  on 

this  pay.”3 

1.  P.  130—  1. 

2.  More  correctly,  provision  made  for  undertaking  to  be 
killed  in  the  defence  of  the  King. 

3.  P.  IS1* 


N.  17.]  CHAKKIYTYR  361 

‘Rasidoo'rs’.  Day  calls  these  Ragidoors  a  Portu¬ 
guese  term — probably,  it  stands  for  the  Malayalam 
Kjriakksr,  i*e .  Governor  or  Administrator. 

16.  Inferior  Sudras.  Not  only  the  inferior 
Sudras  but  latterly  also  Chogas  and  Syrian  Christians, 
when  they  came  on  the  scene,  were  bound  to  answer 
the  command  of  the  Raja  to  accompany  him  in  his  wars. 
According  to  Bartholomeo-,  the  military  forces  of  king 
MsrttSnda  Varma  of  Travancore  consisted  of,  besides 
50,000  men  disciplined  in  the  European  manner,  100,000 
Malabar  Nayars,  and  also  Chogas,  armed  with  bows  and 
arrows,  spears,  swords  and  battle  axes.1  Hough  says 
that  the  Syrian  Bishops  and  Archdeacons  were  always 
attended  by  armed  retainers,  and  we  read  that,  when 
their  Archdeacon  George  was  summoned  by  Arch¬ 
bishop  Menezes  to  appear  before  him  in  Cochin  in  A. D. 
I599»  the  Archdeacon  was  attended  by  two  Christian 
chiefs  and  3,000  of  their  followers,  armed  with  swords 
and  shields  who  had  taken  an  oath  to  defend  him  to 
the  last  extremity,  even  to  the  indiscriminate  massacre 
of  all  who  should  oppose  him. 

17.  Sakkiara.  This  stands  for  ChakkiySr, 
These  are  not  Nayars.  They  belong  to  the  Antarsia- 
jajTor  intermediate  class,  which  is  below  Brahmans 
and  Kshetriyas,  and  above  Nsyars.  Their  name 
Chskkiyar  is  said  to  indicate  the  traditional  function 
of  the  caste  in  Malabar  society.  The  word  Ch2kkiy5r 
is  supposed  to  be  derived  from  Slaghyavakkiakar  i. 
those  with  eloquent  words,  and  their  occupation  is 
story-telling  in  temples  at  festivals,  etc.  Another 
derivation  suggested  is,  that  the  word-  is  a  corrupt  form 
of  Slaghyar  or  ‘men  of  respectability.  This  derivation 
cannot  be  correct,  for  their  origin  belies  the  respecta¬ 
bility  of  the  class. 

Among  these  there  are  two  classes,  viz.,  those  who 

o  * 

are  allowed  to  wear  the  thread,  and  those  who  are  not. 
While  the  former  are  known  as  Chakkiyars,  the  latter 

•j.  P.  175- 


362  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L:  20. 

are  called  NampiySrs  The  NampiySrs,  it  will  be  seen, 
closely  associate  themselves  with  the  Chskkiyars. 

It  is  said  that  the  Chakkiysrs  belonged  to  the  Suta 
castes  who,  according  to  Mann,  were  Pratilomajas,  or 
the  issue  of  the  marriage  of  a  female  of  a  higher  caste 
with  the  male  of  a  lower  one. 

Besides  being  allowed  to  wear  the  Poonu  Nool  or 
sacred  thread,  they  can  also  repeat  the  Gilyatri  ten 
times,  having  already  gone  through  the  Upanayana 
SamskSra.  The  girls  either  marry  into  their  own  caste, 
or  enter  into  the  Sambandham  form  of  alliance  with 

*  9 

Nambutiries.  The  ChskkiySr  may  choose  a  wife  for 

Sambandham  from  among  the  NampiySr  women,  who 

are  known  as  Nangiyars.  The  Nambutiries  do  the 

purification  of  house  and  person  after  birth  or  death 

pollution;  but  will  not  officiate  as  their  priests.  They 

observe  .birth  and  death  pollution  for  11  days.  Their 

women  are  known  as  Illattammamar,  and  the  ornaments 

»  » 

they  wear  do  not  differ  from  those  of  the  Nambutiri 
women. 

Their  occupation,  as  already  observed,  is  story¬ 
telling  in  temples.  This  is  known  as  Chakkiyarkoothu 
and  is  a  permanent  institution  in  Malabar.  The  more 
important  temples  of  Malabar  have  a  separate  building 
attached  to  them  called  Kuttampalam,  where  generally 
at  Utsavams  or  annual  festivals,  and,  occasionally,  at 
other  times,  the  Chakkiyar  by  means  of  oral  lectures 
expound  stories  taken  from  the  ItihSsas  and  PurSnas. 
The  Vedas  being  considered  the  special  property  of 
the  twice-born  class,  the  rest  have  to  satisfy  their 
spiritual  cravings  with  the  pabulum  supplied  by  the 
PurSnas,'  which  contain  the  story  of  the  Avataras  or 
incarnations  of  God.  The  non-regenerate  classes  are 
prohibited  even  from  hearing  the  Vedas  read.  But 
the  Purinas  *are  not  tabooed.  The  Nambutiries  them- 

•  •  9 

selves  would  not,  of  course,  in  their  priestly  pride, 
condescend  to  minister  to  the  spiritual  enlightenment 
of  the  despised  classes  and  so  they  have  delegated  this 


363 


N.  17  I  CIIAKKIYAR 

duty  to  those  who  have  fallen  from  their  society. 
Hence,  it  has  devolved  on  the  Chakkiyars  to  expound 
to  the  non-regenerate  classes  the  mysteries  of  the 
PurSna.  This  is  done  by  public  recitations  from 
special  adaptations  called  Praoamdhams  composed  by 
authors  of  eminence  like  Meppattur  Narayanan 
Bhattatiripad,  are  very  popular.  In  the  course  of  his 
narration  and  exposition, the  Chakkiyar  culls  apt  passages 
from  other  works  as  well.  Several  episodes  are 
brought  in  by  way  of  illustration.  There  are  eminent 
Sanskrit  scholars  and  eloquent  speakers  among  them, 
and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  marvellous 
flow  of  their  words  and  the  telling  humour  of  their 
utterances  often  keep  the  audience  spell-bound.  By 
custom,  they  enjoy  complete  immunity  from  retort  or 
punishment.  The  law  of  libel  and  slander  cannot  reach 
them.  They  are  placed  beyond  the  provisions  of  the 
Penal  Code,  They  criticise  men  and  measures  with¬ 
out  reserve,  not  directly  of  course,  but  by  introducing 
current  matters  in  hints  and  suggestions,  by  way  of 
illustrating  their  texts.  In  olden  days,  when  the  editor 
and  reporter  were  still  in  the  womb  of  time,  they 
assumed  the  role  of  critic  and  exponent  of  public 
opinion,  and  made  their  discourses,  the  vehicle  of 
imparting  instructive  lessons,  political,  religious  and 
moral.  Custom  has  not  always  secured  them  immunity 
against  the  dangerous  facility  of  speech  possessed  by 
them.  It  is  said  that,  in  one  instance,  an  eminent 
minister  of  the  State  of  Travancore  thought  it  necessary 
to  deport  a  Chakkiyar,  as  it  was  thought  that  his  dis¬ 
courses  were  likely  to  lead  to  political  agitation. 

There  are  eminent  actors  also  among  them.  Part 
of  their  occupation  consists  in  performing  pieces  taken 
from  the  Sanskrit  Drama.  But  they  have  to  perform 
in  dumb  show,  not  being  permitted  to  speak.  This  is 
known  as  An  guliyangam  Kooih  i>  c,,  performance  by 
show  of  hands,  in  which  a  single  Chakkiyar  has  to  act 
the  part  of  all  the  characters  of  the  play.  Except  to  the 


364  LETTERS  EROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

initiated,  it  is  an  exceedingly  dull  and  uninteresting  affair. 
Yet  it  is  thought  meritorious  for  votaries  to  have  such 
shows  acted  at  their  cost  in  certain  temples  of  renown. 
In  what  is  known  as  Kootiyattanu  (acting  together)  or 
performance  by  several  ChakkiyStrs,  a  number  of  them 
take  part  and  the  play  usually  selected  is  the  Naga • 
nandam . 

We  have  a  fine  description  of  a  Chakkiyar  KU^u 
of  the  ordinary  kind  given  us  by  Mr.  Nagam  Ayya  in 
the  Travaucore  Census  Report  for  1891.  “The  Chakki- 
yar  Koothu  is  one  of  the  chief  elements  of  enjoyment 
in  a  temple  Utsavam,  affording  intellectual  recreation 
to  the  middle-aged  and  the  old  that  frequent  it  on  such 
occasions.  When  the  bustle  of  the  morning  poojah  is 
over  and  the  visitors  have  been  sumptuously  fed  and 
the  noon  Seeveli  (the  procession  of  the  God  round  the 
pagoda  inside  the  premises)  is  done,  there  is  perfect 
stillness  within  the  pagoda  for  about  three  or  four 
hours  in  the  afternoon  which  is  broken  only  by  the 
Chakkiyar’s  performance  called  Koothu.  The  Chakki- 
yar  is  generally  a  middle  aged  man  well  versed  in 
Sanskrit  and  Malayalam.  The  thenie  of  his  discourse, 
which  usually  extends  over  a  space  of  three  hours,  is 
generally  one  of  the  scenes  of  the  Ramayana  ,or  the 
Mahabharata,  such  as  the  birth  of  Rama,  his  marriage 
to  Janaka’s  daughter,  Hanuman’s  visit  to  Seeta  and  the 
burning  of  Lanka,  Pctnchali  Szvayamvaram,  Subhadra • 
haranam ,  or  the  great  Rajasuya  Yagam>  or  Krishna’s 
mission  from  the  Pandavas  to  Duryodhana  for  the 
partition  of  the  Raj.  The  Chakkiyar  is  well  up  in 
the  art  of  humouring  his  audience.  The  one  that  I 
heard  is  particularly  a  great  master  of  that  art,  being 
considered  one  of  the  very  ablest  performers  in  Mala¬ 
bar.  He  is  well  read  and  can  himself  compose  in 
Sanskrit  or  Malayalam.  The  delivery  is  extempore 
and  the  Chakkiyar  himself  told  me  that  he  knows  b) 
rote  about  15,000  Sanskrit  slokas.  He  is  a  man  of 
genius  and  can,  therefore,  adjust  himself  to  his  audience 


GHAKYAR  IN  ROBES. 


CHAKKIYAR 


365 


N.  17.] 

at  a  moment’s  notice,  whether  that  audience  consists  of 
Princes,  Nambudiri  dignitaries,  or  the  common  people. 
He  keeps  them  spell-bound  for  the  span  of  three  or 
four  hours,  during  which  he  is  continually  speaking 
without  a  pause.  He  is  something  like  the  great  orators 
of  Britain  who  are  said  ‘to  enchant  and  enchain  their 
audiences’.  The  performance  is  considered  religious, 
for  the  recital  never  takes  place  outside  the  walls  of  a 
temple.  One  portion  of  the  pagoda  is  specially  dedi¬ 
cated  for  the  Chakkiyar’s  Koothu  and  is  known  as  the 
Koothambalam.  This  is  generally  a  structure  of  great 
architectural  value  in  the  big  temples.  One  of  the 
prettiest  Koothambalams  in  the  country  will  be  here 
described.  It  is  52  feet  long  by  38  feet  broad.  The 
centre  of  this  is  a  raised  dais  14  feet  square  supported 
by  massive  pillars  and  the  wood  panelling  above  is 
worked  with  elaborate  designs  representing  scenes  in 
the  Ramayana  and  Mahabharata  and  other  Puranas. 
In  one  place  there  is  Vishnu  riding  on  his  favourite 
vehicle  Garuda;  in  another  is  Brahma  on  his  swan. 
Here  Parameswara  is  represented  on  his  Nandi  bull 
proceeding  on  a  tour  of  blessing  his  votaries,  and  there 
is  Sasta  on  the  back  of  a  tiger. 

Carvings  of  snakes,  swans,  boars  and  other  animals 
are  found  upon  the  beams;  Mahishasuramardanom, 
Narasimha  (the  Lion  God),  Dhanwantiri  (one  of  the 
subsidiary  incarnations  of  Vishnu),  and  Darika  Vadham 
also  are  scenically  represented.  All  the  scenes  *  of  the 
Bhagavata  from  Devaki’s  marriage  with  Vasudeva  up 
to  the  annihilation  of  Kamsa,  including  the  intermediate 
Leelas  'of  Krishna,  are  most  beautifully  engraved  upon 
the  side-panels, — some  of  them  such  as  Krishna’s  birth, 
his  shifting  by  night  to  Nanda’s  house,  Poothanamok- 
sham,  Kaliyamardanam,  Aghasuravadham,  Devaki’s 
and  Vasudeva’s  imprisonment  and  distress,  Krishna’s 
amorous  intrigues  with  the  shepherd  girls,  his  stealing 
butter  and  ghee,  his  lifting  up  a  mountain  (Govardha- 
noddharanam),  Sakatasuravadham,  killing  the  washer* 


366  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

man,  the  elephant  and  the  Mallakas,  and  the  granting 
of  Kubja’s  request,  '  being  fully  elaborated.  Again 
you  have  the  scene  of  Anantasayanam  and  the 
ten  avatars  of  Vishnu-also  fully  shown.  In  the  centre1 
are  engraved  on  a  big  scale  the  forms  of  Brahma  and 
the  Ashtadikpalakas,  while  the  pillars  are  filled  with 
many  quaint  figures  of  gods  and  goddesses.  In  the 
centre  of  the  raised  dais  sits  the  Chakkiyar  on  a  wooden 
throne,  like  Soota  of  old  before  the  Rishis,  and  deli¬ 
vers  his  performance.  The  seat  is  a  three-legged  stool 
far  older  than  the  one  upon  which  the  two  Kings  of 
Brentford  are  said  to  have  sat.  The  dress  of  the 
Chakkiyar  is  also  of  a  very  antiquated  fashion,  but 
I  thought  his  crimson  cloth  turban  with  its  gold  rim 
and  silk  embossments  in  the  centre  was  very  pretty. 
On  his  right  sat  his  pretty  wife,  known  as  the  Nangyar, 
in  her  simple  and  neat  white  dress  and  with  her  pretty 
knot  of  hair  in  front  sounding  the  cymbal  in  her  hand.  Her 
presence  is  indispensable  in  a  “Chakkiyarkoothu”.  She 
was  the  only  person  I  noticed  who  kept  serenely  still 
when  the  audience  was  roaring  with  laughter  or  ringing 
with  cheers.  The  etiquette  is  that  the  Nangyar 
should  not  break  silence  during  the  Koothu.  Behind 
him  sat  the  drummer  with  his  drum  called  the  ‘ milavu , 
which  was  sounded  once  in  15  minutes  or  so  and  which 
produced  a  dull  and  antique  sound.  The  instrument 
evidently  has  not  undergone  any  change  since  it  was 
originally  invented  in  Parasurama’s  time.  I  do  not 
think  anything  similar  to  it  exists  in  any  other  part  of 
India.  The  Chakkiyar  criticises  men  in  authority  and 
their  measures  in  terms  of  scathing  sarcasm  whenever 
he  gets  an  opportunity  for  doing  so,  or  when  he  feels 
sufficient  confidence  in  the  good  sense  and  tolerance  of 
the  officials  who  listen  to  him.  Even  princes  and 
nobles  are  not  spared.  His  Highness  the  late  Maharaja 
once  listened  to  a  performance  by  this  same  Chakkiyar 
in  one  of  the  Koothambalams  attached  to  a  most  import¬ 
ant  pagoda  in  North  Travahcore.  This  Koothambalam 
was  in  a  very  neglected  condition.  The  roof  was 


PUDUVALS 


367 


N.  18.] 

riddled  with  holes.  Wishing  to  draw  His  Highness* 
attention  to  the  wretched  condition  of  the  roof,  the 
Chakkiyar  quietly  remarked  in  the  course  of  his  per¬ 
formance  that  the  occasion  (the  Chakkiyar  was  then 
describing  a  marriage  scene  in  the  Puranas)  was  not 
only  honoured  by  the  presence  of  the  august  Maharaja 
and  his  officials,  but  even  by  the  moon  and  the  stars 
resplendently  shining  through  the  roof.  This  had  a 
most  wholesome  effect,  for  the  building  was  taken  in 
hand  the  next,  day  and  put  into  in  order.  But  he 
is  neither  vulgar  nor  offensive  in  his  criticisms.  He 
utters  nothing  base.  He  has  a  charming  manner  of 
pointing  out  foibles,  for  he  is  a  most  amiable  critic, 
but  he  is  more  happy  in  detecting  excellences  and 
praising  them.  This  was  probably  the  method  adopted 
for  conveying  public  criticism  in  ancient  days,  and  was, 
I  believe,  more  effective  than  the  Newspaper  press  pf 
modern  times  on  account  of  the  agents  being  more 
qualified  and  the  occasions  more  select.  The  Chakkiyar 
is  also  a  very  contented  gentleman,  for  he  gives  you 
this  magnificent  performance  for  the  small  sum  of  three 
rupees  and  a  quarter,  which  is  generally  paid  by  one  of 
the  audience,  the  remaining  hundreds  of  spectators 
enjoying  the  amusement  gratis.  The  performance 
continues  for  several  nights  during  the  Ootasavan 
season,  and  is  given  in  nearly  all  the  big  temples  of  the 
country.  The  Chakkiyar  Koothu  is  one  of  the  most 
popular  institutions  of  the  land'’. 

18.  Poodtlvallen.  This  stands  for  Putuval,  who  is 

»  * 

an  Ampalavasi,  or  temple  servant,  and  belongs  to  the 
non-threaded  class.  It  is  not  easy  to  understand  where 
our  author  got  his  information  that  the  “Pudewalen” 
had  the  honour  of  handing  betel  to  the  Raja,  unless  it 
be  that  it  so  happened  that  the  attendant  of  the  Raja, 
whom  our  author  knew,  and  whose  duty  was  to  hand  the 
betel,  happened  to  belong  to  the  Putuval  caste. 

The  Putuvil  resembles  the  Nayar  in  many  res- 
pects.  The  word  is  said  to  be  derived  either  from 
Potud  sitcom mon  man,  or  Putu+5l=new  man.  Th'e 


368  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

derivation  perhaps  indicates  his  origin  and  occupation. 
The  original  PutuvSl  or  Potuvsl  was  most  probably 
the  new  man  introduced  by  the  urslers  or  trustees  of 
a  temple  as  their  common  agent  to  manage  temple  affairs. 
He  is  a  temple~servant,  and  as  such  has  to  do  duties 
of  a  miscellaneous  nature — from  keeping  the  stores  to 
sweeping  the  temple  precincts.  He  is  called  Pora 
Pu^uvSl  (outside  PutuvSl)  in  contradistinction  to 
Aka-Putuvsl  (inside  Putuvsl),  or  Muttatu.  He 
also  collects  flowers  and  makes  garlands  for 
daily  worship  just  as  the  Variyar  and  Pushpakan. 
The  women  are  called  Putuvarasyars.  They  observe 
birth  and  death  pollution  for  12  days  and  follow  the 
Marumakkattayam  rule  of  inheritance. 

In  Travancore,  the  term  is  applied  to  two  different 
classes  of  people  having  wide  social  differences,  viz*, 
Mala-Putuvals  (makers  of  garlands  in  temples),  and 
Chenta  Putuvals  (drummers).  It  is  curious  that  a 
Pujuval  of  the  former  class  has  to  shave  the  Tachutaya 
Kaimal  of  Irinjalacudav,  an  ecclesiastical  dignitary  who 
has  the  management  of  the  Kutal  Msnikkam  temple 
at  his  inauguration  into  office.  The  Kaimal  is  nomi¬ 
nated  by  the  Maharaja  of  Travancore,  and  is  by  birth  a 
Nsyar  of  the  Kuruppu  class,  and  raised  to  the  sacer¬ 
dotal  dignity  and  social  privileges  of  a  Brahman  by  means 
of  an  elaborate  purification  and  ordination  ceremony 
known  as  Avarodham.  It  is  at  this  ceremony  that  the 
Pu^uval  has  to  shave  him  . 

19.  Andoekellan.  The  Andsr  Nsyars*  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  Keralolpathy ,  are  potters.  The  class 
derives  its  name  from  Andoor,  a  fief  under  Calicut.1 
Their  occupation  is  to  make  pots  and  pans  for 
temples,  and  supply  the  Nambutiris  with  bricks 
and  other  articles  made  of  potter’s  clay  required 
for  ySgams  or  sacrifices.  They  are  also  known  as 
KuSavans.  Barbosa  notices  them  as ‘Kujavan’.  Speak¬ 
ing  of  the  Kusavans,  Barbosa  says: — “There  is 
another  set  of  people  among  the  Indians  of  Malabar 
1.  Vide  Rev.  Dr;  Gunderl’s  Dictionary,  p,  82, 


N.  20.]  CHEMBUKOTTI  369 

which  is  called  the  KuSavan,  and  is  separated  from  the 
Nsyar  on  account  of  a  fault  which  he  committed.  If 
any  of  the  soldiers  deserts  his  rank  or  throws  away  his 
arms  or  is  guilty  of  any  such  act  of  cowardice,  must 
we  not  degrade  him  to  the  rank  of  an  artizan  ?  Decid¬ 
edly.  For  this  reason  they  remained  as  a  separate 
caste  or  sect.  Their  business  is  to  work  at  baked 
clay,  and  tiles  for- covering  houses  with  which  the 
temples  and  royal  houses  are  roofed  :  and  by  law  no 
other  persons  may  roof  their  houses  except  with  palm 
branches.  Their  idolatory  and  their  idols  are  different 
from  those  of  the  others:  and,  in  their  houses  of  prayer, 
they  perform  a  thousand  acts  of  witchcrafts  and  no 
ceremony  ;  they  call  their  temple  pagodas.  They  are 
separate  from  the  others.  Their  descendants  cannot 
take  any  other  sect  nor  any  other  occupation.  In  their 
marriages  they  follow  the  law  of  the  Nsyars.  The 
Njjyars  may  cohabit  with  their  women,  provided  they 
do  not  re-enter  their  houses  without  washing  themselves 
from  the  sin,  and  putting  on  a  change  of  clean  garments/’i 
Here  we  have  almost  direct  evidence  of  the  process  by 
which  castes  were  formed  or  at  any  rate  replenished  to 
which  we  have  already  referred.  This  also  shows  the 
method  by  which  men  belonging  to  higher  sub-divisions 
are  degraded  and  ca^t  into  lower  sub-divisions  for  reasons 
which  have  nothing  to  do  with  religion.  The  term 
KuSavan  is  now  commonly  used  as  a  term  of  reproach 
to  mean  ‘stupid',  and  this  meaning  must  have  been 
attached  to  it  because  of  the  reason  which  brought 
about  the  degradation  of  the  class. 

20.  Izomboe  Kotty.  This  is  Chembukotti,  or 
those  who  work  in  copper  i,  e.>  copper-smiths.  The 
Malabar  Gazetteer  gives  a  curious  account  of  how  a 
Chembukotti  was  able  to  raise  the  status  of  his  class. 

“  The  latter  (Chembottis)  are  said  to  have  originally 
formed  part  of  the  Kammalan  or  artisan  community. 
When  the  great  temple  at  Taliparamba  was  completed, 
it  was  purified  on  a  scale  of  unprecedented  grandeur, 
no  less  than  i,coo  Brahmans  being  employed.  What 

i.  P.  135. 


AU. 


370 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


was  their  dismay  when  the  ceremony  was  well  forward, 
to  see  a  Chembotti  coming  from  the  Sri  Kovil,  where 
he  had  been  putting  finishing  touches  to  the  roof.  This 
appeared  to  involve  a  recommencement  of  the  whole 
tedious  and  costly  ritual ;  and  the  Brahmans  gave  vent 
to  their  feelings  of  despair,  when  a  vision  from  heaven 
reassured  them.  And  thereafter  the  Chembottis  have 
been  raised  in  the  social  scale  and  are  not  regarded  as 
a  polluting  caste.”  . 

21.  Toonetl.  Tailor  or  Chaliyan  who  is  also 
a  weaver. 

22.  Noolchottin.  Nul  Chetti  or  cloth  weaver. 
This  class  is  scarcely  a  Malayali  one.  The  Malay ali 
weaver  is  the  Chaliyan. 

23.  Wilsiath  Nayars.  These  are  known  as 
Vajtakatans,  whose  occupation  is  oil  making. 

24.  Jodacheri.  These  are  Itacheri  Nayars, 
known  in  South  Travancore  as  Pantaris.  They  are 
herdsmen,  and  engage  themselves  in  selling  butter, 
milk,  and  curds. 

25.  Wallamneoers  or  Valanmars.  These  do 
not  belong  to  the  Nayar  caste.  They  are  a  lower 
section,  and,  in  occupation, .  are  fishermen,  and  are  not 
allowed  to  approach  the  higher  classes.  Both  their 
touch  and  proximity  are  held  to  be  polluting. 

26.  Ajari,  Moojari,  Tattan,  Kollan.  These 
four  together  with  a  fifth,  Kalian  or  Kallasari,  go  by 
the  name  of  Kammaiars.  The  Jatinirnaya  would  add 
a  sixth  also  viz.,  Tachan  or  Trchakollan,  i.  e.,  those 
whose  work  is  to  fell  trees  and  saw  timber.  In  fact 
these  are  only  sub-divisions  of  the  same  caste  and  not 
different  castes,  each  class  being  distinguished  by  the 
materials  in  which  it  works.  They  are  all  artisans. 

The  AS5ri  is  the  carpenter,  or  worker  in  wood. 

The  Kalian  is  the.  worker  in  Kallu  or  stone. 

The  MusSri  is  the  brazier  and  coppersmith. 

The  Tattan  is  the  worker  in  gold. 

The  Kollan  is  the  blacksmith — worker  in  iron. 


BELL -METAL  (MUSARl)  WORKERS. 


a* 

<1 

«> 


Co 


KAMMALAR 


371 


N,  26.] 

In  Malabar,  unlike  on  the  other  Coast,  the  Kam- 
malans  are  a  polluting  caste,  and  do  not  wear  the  thread, 
though  they  sometimes  have  the  privilege  of  doing  so, 
when  working  in  the  inner  precincts  or  the  sanctum 
sanctorum  of  a  temple.  Their  generic  name  is  Paijikkan, 
meaning  worker,  and  they  feel  honoured  by  having 
Pa^ikkan  added  to  their  names.  Those  among  them 
who  are  learned  in  Thachu  Sastram}  (science  of  archi¬ 
tecture)  architectural  lore,  in  calculating  formulae,  etc. 
go  by  the  honorific  title  of  MutpSSri. 

The  Syrian  Christian  Copper-plate  of  the  9th 
century  makes  mention  of  the  carpenters  as  a  distinc¬ 
tive  class  in  Malabar  society.  Of  the  various  privileges 
granted  by  the  Perumal  to  Joseph  Rabban  and  Iravi 
Corttan,  the  headmen  respectively  of  the  Jewish  and 
Syrian  Christian  Communities,  “Lordship  over  the 
oilmakers  and  the  five  kinds  of  artificers  (Aymvazhi  or 
Aymkudi  Kammalar)  that  is  the  carpenter,  blacksmith, 
goldsmith,  braze r  and  tanner,”  is  one.1  They  are  said 
to  have  had  a  common  origin.  They  are  supposed  to 
be  emigrants  from  Ceylon.  Belonging  to  the  artisan 
class,  their  services  are  always  in  much  requisition, 
with  the  result  that  they-command  higher  wages,  than 
ordinary  labourers,  and  are  therefore  able  to  maintain 
a  higher  position  in  society.  AM  the  five  or  six  sub¬ 
divisions  have  similar  manners  and  customs.  They 
follow  the  MakkaftSyam  law  of  succession.  Traces  of 
polyandry  are  still  to  be  found  among  them  in  some 
places.  It  is  of  the  Tibetan,  fraternal  or  adelphic  form.  A 
number  of  brothers  have  a  common  wife,  who  lives  with 
them  in  their  house,  the  children  are  their  children  and 
inherit  their  property.  The  practice  of  a  brother  or 
cousin  marrying  the  widow  of  an  elder  brother  or 
cousin  also  prevails  among  them,  though  both  practices 
are  said  to  be  dying  out,  In  the  Cochin  State,  instead 
of  the  Jachchan,  the  J olekollan,  the  worker  in  leather 
forms  the  sixth  subdivision,  the  Jachchan  coming 


Logan’s  Malabar ,  vol.  I,  p.  269, 


372  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

under  the  head  of  Mara-AS5ri  ror  carpenter.  There 
the  first  five  sub-classes  interdine,  and ‘have  no  objec¬ 
tion  to  intermarry,  but  the  Tolekollan  is  held  to  be  of  a 
lower  and  degraded  class.  The  Tachchans  also  are 
not  allowed  the  privilege  of  touching  the  other  classes. 
They  have  the  Talikettu  ceremony  apart  from  the  real 
marriage,  and  this  is  generally  performed  before  attain¬ 
ing  puberty.  But  all  connection  between  the  Tsli-tier 
and  the  girl  is  at  once  formally  severed  by  a  'Ceremony 
called  Vazhippu  in  Travancore.  In  regard’  to  the 
Talikettu  ceremony,  they  follow  the  observances  of  the 
liuvas.  The  wedding  ornament  is  known  as  Minnu 
(^that  which  shines).  Their  jewelry  resembles  that  of 
the  Nayars,  with  the  exception  of  the  nose-screw  and 
its  pendant,  Mukkutti  and  GnSttu.  If,  after  marriage, 
the  girl  is  not  brought  home  to  the  husband’s  house 
and  adopted  into  his  family  by  an  open  declaration  of 
the  priest  and  the  class  men  assembled  on  the  occasion, 
she  will  have  to  return  to  her  maternal  house  after  her 
husband’s  death,  and  her  children  do  not  inherit  hi3 
property,  nor  do  they  become  members  of  his  family. 
Their  priests  come  from  the  Kuruppu  sub-division, 
who  officiate  at  marriages  and  funerals.  They  bury 
their  dead  and  observe  pollution  for  16  days.  They 
worship  Kdi,  Mstan,  and  other  divinities  and  offer 
animal  sacrifices.  On  the  completion  of  a  building  in 
which  they  have  taken  part,  the  MarSSSri,  KallsSSri 
and  Kollan  perform  what  is  called  Kut?fi-pt3ja  and  a 
fowl  or  a  goat  is  sacrificed  to  propitiate  the  devils  who 
might  have  dwelt  in  the  wood  that  supplied  timber  and 
other  materials  for  the  building.  They  have  distance 
pollution. 

There  is  a  tradition  current  amongst  them  that 
they  went  back  to  Ceylon  in  a  body  from  Malabar,  as 
one  of  the  Perumals  pressed  them  to  marry  into  the 
washerman  caste.  They  did  so,  howeyer,  only  after 
taking  revenge  on  those  who  wanted  to  bring  about  a 
fusion  of  the  Kammslar  and  washerman  caste  by  com- 


ASARI  WOMEN. 


POLLUTION 


373 


N.  27.] 

passing  the  death  of  a  large  number  of  them  assembled 
in  a  marriage  shed  which  the  KammSlars  contrived  to 
so  build  as  to  come  down  on  the  head  of  the  occupants 
without  notice.  It  seems  that  the  PerumSl  and  his 
successors  offered  all  sorts  of  inducements  to  them  to 
return,  as  Malabar  was  without  any  artisan  class.  They 
refused  and,  on  the  Perumsl  pressing  the  King  of 
Kandy,  who  is  said  to  have  been  in  high  esteem  with 
the  ruler  of  Malabar,  that  Prince,  out  of  international 
courtesy,  prevailed  on  some  of  the  Kammslar  class  to 
return  to  Malabar,  sending  along  with  them  some  of 
the  Tluva  caste,  who,  it  is  said,  belonged  to  the  ruling 
class  in  Ceylon.  The  Tluvers  were  enjoined  by  the 
King  of  Kandy  to  see  that  the  Kammdas  were  not 
ill-treated  by  the  Malabar  King.  Thus  they  were  placed 
under  the  protection  of  the  Iluvas,  and  it  is  added 
that  this  explains  why  even  now  the  two  classes  have 
great  sympathy  for  each  other.  The  tradition  is  refer¬ 
red  to  by  our  author  in  his  next  letter. 

2 7*  The  Pulleahs  do  not  venture  to  approach 
them .  This  refers  to  the  custom  of  distance  pollution 
observed  in  Malabar.  This  has  been  noticed  by  early 
travellers.  It  exists'to  some  extent  even  at  the  present 
day  but  only  in  certain  rural  parts.  According  to 
this  system,  the  Malayalis  distinguish  two  kinds  of 
pollution,  that  by  proximity  and  that  by  contact.1  The 
Brahman  allows  the  Kshetriya  freely  to  touch  him  with¬ 
out  any  fear  of  contamination  except  when  he  is  engag¬ 
ed  in  his  priestly  and  religious  functions.  The  Nsyar 
touch  is  polluting  to  the  Brahman  and  the  K§hetriya 
always,  while  the  high  class  Nsyar  in  turn  feels  .himself 
polluted  by  the  touch  of  any  of  the  lower  classes. 

The  prescribed  distance  at  which  the  classes 
below  the  Nsyar  should  stand  with  respect  to  one  of 
the  higher  classes  is  as  follows. — 

Kammalars  24  feet. 

Iluvas  and  sub-class  36  feet. 

Ka^akkan,  etc.  48  feet. 

t.  Please  see  note  on  Atatabar  Untouchability  on  p,  429  of 
the  second  volume  of  this  work* 


374 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  30. 


Pulayan 

Ulistan 


64  feet. 
72  feet. 


Other  kinds  of  pollutions  observed  in  Malabar 
may  also  be  noticed  here.  During  pollution  caused  by 
the  death  of  a  relative,  those  who  are  subject  to  it  are 
not  allowed  to  touch  even  their  own  castemen.  Women 
even  of  equal  caste  rank  pollute,  if  at  certain  times 
they  come  within  certain  distances,  and  this  custom 
prevails  even  among  the  lowest  classes,  e.  g.,  a  newly 
confined  woman  has  to  stand  at  a  distance  of  18  feet 
and  a  woman  in  menses  at  a  distance  of  twelve  feet. 

Another  curious  custom  is  that,  while  the  Mala- 
yali  would  not  allow  his  Hindu  brethren,  such  as  those 
above  described;  to  approach  him  without  feeling  him-, 
self  polluted,  he  does  not  object  to  the  proximity  of 
the  Mahomedan,  the  Christian  and  the  Jew  ;  only 
their  touch  is  considered  polluting.  The  orthodox 
Malayali  objects  to  the  touch  of  even  the  East  Coast 
Hindu.  The  Nambujiri  Brahman  should  take  a 
plunge  bath,  change  his  sacred  thread,  and  undergo 
other  penances,,  to  get  rid  of  the  pollution  caused  by 
the  touch  or  approach  of  a  low  , caste  man.  The 
Nayar  satisfies  himself  however  with  dipping  himself 
in  a  tank  or  stream  to  wash  off  his  pollution.  The 
belief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  plunge  bath  to  remove 
pollution  is  referred  to  by  Barbosa,  Linschoten,  and 
other  early  travellers. 

In  describing  his  journey  through  Malabar,  Ibn 
Batuta  (A.  D.  1324)  makes  mention  of  the  caste 
exclusiveness  of  the  Malayalees.  He  says  "The 
whole  of  the  way  by  land  lies  under  the  shade  of  trees 
and,  at  the  distance  of  every  half  mile,  there  is  a 
house  made  of  wood  in  which  there  are  chambers 
fitted  up  for  the  reception  of  comers  and  goers 
whether  they  be  Moslems  or  infidels.  To  each 
of  these  there  is  a  well  out  of  which  they  drink;  and 
over  each  is  an  infidel  appointed  to  give  drink.  To 
the  infidels  he  supplies  this  in  vessels;  to  the  Moslems 


POLLUTION 


.  N.  27.] 


375 


he  pours  it  in  their  hands.  They  do  not  allow  the 
Moslems  to  touch  their  vessels  or  to  enter  into  their 
apartments,  but  if  any  one  should  happen  to  eat  out  of 
one  of  their  vessels  they  break  it  to  pieces”. 

The  following  quotation  from  Logan’s  Malabar  is 
instructive  on  the  subject,  “Pollution,  however  acquired, 
by  the  near  approach  of  a  low  caste  man  or  by  touch 
can  only  be  washed  out  by  complete  immersion  in 
water.  Even  to  use  hot  water  seems  to  be  against  the 
canon.  And  great  are  the  perplexities  of  the  strictly 
conservative,  and  noteworthy  are  some  of  the  devices 
by  which  the  better  castes  try  to  turn  the  flank  (so  to 
speak)  of  this  law,  now  that  greater  freedom  in  moving 
about  the  country  is  necessitated  by  modern  require¬ 
ments.  The  water  must  be  in  a  natural  tank  or  stream, 
even  Ganges  water,  if  confined  in  a  tub,  would  perhaps 
fail  to  wash  away  pollution.  The  strictly  orthodox  are 
sometimes  driven  to  emptying  big  kettles  of  boiling 
water  into  the  stream  above  the  place  of  bathing  in 
order  that  the  health  of  tjie  bather  may  not  suffer  when 
on  a  journey  in  a  cold  climate.  The  orthodox  fashion 
is  to  hold  the  nose  with  finger  and  thumb  and  dip 
completely  under  the  surface  when  nothing  more  loath¬ 
some  has  to  be  washed  off  than  the  polluting  touch  of  a 
European’s  friendly  shake  of  the  hand.  This  bath  is 
necessary  before  the  food  can  be  partaken  or  a  sacred 
place  entered  or  several  other  acts  performed.  The 
highest  castes  are  naturally  the  greatest  sticklers  for 
this  observance  and,  although  British  freedom  has  made 
"inroads  on  the  Hindu  custom  in  this  respect,  chiefly 
through  the  influence  of  education  and  extended  know¬ 
ledge,  it  is  too  soon  yet  to  look  forward  to  the  final 
extinction  of  this  anomalous  system”.1 

The  experiments  resorted  to  at  times  to  keep  within 
the  ordinances  of  custom  are  many  and  curious;  some¬ 
times  they  border  on  the  ludicrous.  Once  a  certain  Raja 
had  to  be  attended  on  his  sick  bed  by  a  European  doctor 
who  felt  his  pulse  and  thereby  caused  touch  pollution. 

1.  P  1x8. 


376  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

Before  taking  any  medicine  or  nourishment,  the  pollution 
had  to  be  washed  away  by  a  plunge  bath.  But  the 
condition  of  the  patient  would  not  allow  this The  ex¬ 
pedient  adopted  was  to  cause  the  Nambutiri  attendant 
of  the  Raja,  who  had  sat  by  the  side  of  the  royal 
patient,  in  close  contact  with  him  while  the  doctor 
was  feeling  the  Raja’s  pulse,  to  undergo  the  plunge 
bath,  and  to  renew  the  Raja’s  dress.  This  vi¬ 
carious  bath  of  the  attendant  is  supposed  to  have 
removed  the  definement  caused  to  his  royal  master, 
by  the  touch  of  the  doctor.  Of  course  the  Raja 
had  to  undergo  the  Puniiyaham  or  the  sprinkling 
on  his  body  of  holy  water  on  which  sacred  Man- 
trams  had  been  repeated v  Another  device  generally 
adopted  is  to  hold  a  palm-leaf  umbrella  over  the  head 
of  the  patient  and  to  pour  water  over  it  and,  as  the 
water  drips  from  the  edge  of  the  umbrella,  a  few  drops 
are  made  to  fall  on  the  body  of  the  patient. 

The  orthodox  form  of  bath  which  it  is  supposed 
would  cleanse  all  impurities  of  body  and  soul  contract¬ 
ed  by  contact  with,  or  too  close  proximity  with  lower 
classes,  consists  in  entering  water  and  immersing  one¬ 
self  fully  in  it.  The  person  bathing,  after  cleaning  his 
body,  dips  himself  facing  either  towards  the  East  or  the 
North.  The  East  is  preferable.  The  South  should 
always  be  avoided.  The  more  orthodox  mutters  some 
prayer,  takes  some  water  in  the  hollow  of  his  hands  and 
throws  it  upwards  towards  the  Sun  before  he  dips  him¬ 
self.  He  makes  an  effort  to  realise  within  his  mind  that 
the  water  in  which  he  immerses  himself  is  that  of  the 
holy  river  Ganges — Mother  Ganga.  Absorbed  with  this 
idea,  he  stops  his  nose  with  the  thumb  and  the  fore¬ 
finger  of  his  right  hand  and  plunges  himself  into  the 
water.  He  dips  himself  a  number  of  times  before 
wiping  off  the  water  from  his  body.  After  the  latter 
process  is  gone  through,  he  marks  his  forehead  with 
ashes  of  cowdung,  making  three  horizontal  lines.  This 
he  does  on  his  breast  and  shoulders  and  in  every  joint. 

The  record  of  early  travellers  attest  to  the  fact  of 
the  Pulayas  and  other  lower  orders  being  prohibited 


N.  27.] 


POLLUTION 


377 


from  approaching  the  higher  classes.  Early  in  the 
15th  century,  Ma  Huan,  the  Chinese  traveller,  says 
that  the  Mukkuvas,  when  they  happen  to  go  abroad,  have 
on  meeting  with  a  Brahman,  a  Nsyar  or  a  Chetti  to 
prostratb  themselves  at  once  on  the  ground,  and  dare 
not  rise  until  they  passed  by.  Barbosa  observes, 
speaking  of  the  Nsyars,  (it  is  all  the  more  so  of  castes 
above  them),  “When  they  go  anywhere  they  shout  to 
the  peasants  that  they  may  get  out  of  the  way  where 
they  have  to  pass;  and  the  peasants  do  so;  and  if  they 
did  not  do  it,  the  Nairs  might  kill  them  without 
penalty.  *  *  *  When  these  Nairs  order 

any  work  to  be  done  by  the  peasants,  or  by  anything 
of  them  which  they  take  between  man  and  man,  they 
are  not  exposed  to  another  penalty  on  touching  one 
another  than  the  not  being  able  to  enter  their  houses 
without  first  washing  themselves  and  changing  their 
cloths  for  others  that  are  clean.”1  Castenheda  says 
that  the  higher  classes  cry  out  Jioo,  J100 ,  when  walking 
by  the  road  so  that  the  lower  classes  may  keep  off. 

We  read  in  Purchas  that,  “if  one  of  the  common 
people  touch  a  Nayro  it  is  lawful  for  the  Nayro  to  kill 
him:  and  he  is  also  unclean  and  must  be  purified  by 
certain  washings  and  for  this  cause  they  cry  as  they  go 
in  the  streets,  Pot  Po .”2 

Varthema  remarks  that  these  two  last  classes  of 
people,  that  is  to  say,  the  Poliar  and  Hirava,  “may  not 
approach  either  the  Naeri  or  the  Brahmans  within  50 
paces,  unless  they  have  been  called  by  them,  and  they 
always  go  by  private  ways,  through  the  marshes,  and 
when  they  pass  through  the  said  places,  they  always  go 
crying  out  with  a  loud  voice  and  this  they  do  in  order 
that  they  may  not  meet  the  Naeri  or  the  Brahmans, 
for  should  they  not  be  crying  out,  and  any  of  the  Naeri 
should  be  going  that  way  and  meet  any  of  the  said 
class,  the  above  mentioned  Naeri  may  kill  them  without 

1.  Page  130 

2.  Page  628. 

AV* 


878  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

incurring  any  punishment,  ind  for  this  reason  they 
always  cry  out.”1 

We  have  the  same  account  given  us  by  Linschoten 
(1588 — 89),  who  says,  “As  these  Nayros  go  in  the 
streets,  they  (use  to)  crie  Po ,  Po ,  which  is  to  say,  take 
heede  (look  to  yourself  or)  I  come,  stand  out  of  the 
way,  for  that  the  other  sort  of  people  called  Polyees 
that  are  not  Nayros  may  not  once  touch  (or  trouble) 
one  of  them;  and  therefore  they  always  crie,  because 
they  should  make  them  roome  and  know  that  they 
come,  for  if  any  of  the  Polyas  stand  (still),  and  not 
give  them  place,  whereby  he  should  chance  to  touch 
(their  bodies),  he  may  freely  thrust  him  through,  and 
no  man  ask  him  why  he  did  it.  And  when  they  are 
once  touched  by  the  Polyas  or  by  any  other  nation 
except  Nayros  they  must  (before  they  eat  or  converse 
with  other  Nayros)  wash  and  cleanse  their  bodies 
with  great  ceremonies  and  superstitions.”  Again  “as 
the  Nayros  goe  in  the  streets  and  they  hear  him  call, 
they  step  aside,  bowing  their  arms  and  stooping  with 
their  heads  down  to  the  ground,  not  daring  so  much 
as  once  look  up  before  the  Nayros  be  past.”" 

Thevenot  (1666),  the  French  traveller,  observes 
that  “the  Nairs  had  a  strong  aversion  to  a  low-caste 
people  known  as  Poleas.  If  a  Nair  felt  the  breath  of 
Polea,  he  fancied  himself  polluted,  and  was  obliged 
to  kill  the  man  and  make  certain  ablutions  in  public 
with  great  ceremony.  If  he  spared  the  Polea  and  the 
matter  reached  the  ears  of  the  Raja,  the  Nair  would  be 
either  put  to  death  or  sold  for  a  slave.  The  Poleas  in 
the  fields  were  obliged  to  cry  out  “Po,  Po,”  incessant¬ 
ly  in  order  to  give  notice  to  any  Nairs  who  might 
chance  to  be  in  the  neighbourhood.  If  a  Nair  res¬ 
ponded,  the  Poleas  retired  to  a  distance.  No  Polea 
was  allowed  to  enter  a  town.  If  a  Polea  wanted  any¬ 
thing,  he  cried  for  it  with  a  loud  voice  outside  the 
town  and  left  the  money  at  a  certain  place  appointed 

1  142 — 3. 

a  Vol.  I  p,  378,  etc.  Hakluyit  Society’s  Publication. 


N.  27.] 


POLLUTION 


ST9 


for  the  traffic.  Some  merchant  then  brought  the  com¬ 
modity  that  was  called  for,  and  took  away  the  price  of 
it.”1 

Grose,  voyaging  about  the  years  1753  to  1764, 
refers  to  the  aversion  shown  by  the  higher  classes  to 
the  lower,  and  gives  an  instance  of  the  cruel  results 
to  which  it  leads. 

“But  the  Brahmans  and  Nayros,  the  nobles  of 
the  Malabar  Coast,  could  not  without  horror  think  of 
seeing  the  lowest  castes,  whom  it  was  even  a  profana¬ 
tion  to  come  within  reach  of  their  breath  or  touch, 
raised  to  any  equality  with  them.”  *  *  * 

“In  some  parts  this  nicety  extends  even  to  civil 
distinctions  as,  on  the  coast  of  Malabar,  where  it  is 
made  capital  for  a  Nair  or  noble  of  that  country  to 
approach  so  near  an  inferior  caste  as  to  receive  a 
wound  that  should  draw  blood  from  him.  It  is  not 
many  years  since  that,  near  Ponnany,  the  residence  of 
the  Zamorin  of  Calicut,  an  extraordinary  accident  of 
this  nature  happened.  A  Nair  happened  to  have  a 
sort  of  struggle  with  a  Thyvee,  or  land- tiller,  when  as 
in  half  jest,  half  earnest,  they  grappled  each  other,  the 
Thyvees’  sickle  by  chance  wounded  the  Nair  who 
no  sooner  saw  his  own  blood,  than  he  loosed  his  hold, 
and  entreated  the  Thyvee  to  make  off  as  soon  as  pos* 
sible,  and  to  keep  the  accident  a  secret  for  both  their 
sakes.  It  happening,  however,  to  take  air,  the  Nairs 
assembled  upon  it,  and  one  of  the  elders  getting  up 
and  exposing  the  case,  they  instantly  fell  upon  the  poor 
Nair  and  hacking  him  to  death  with  their  sabres, 
served  him,  as  it  is  said  of  the  porpoises,  when  one  of 
their  species  is  wounded,  whom  the  rest  whilst  he 
bleeding,  instantly  tear  to  pieces:  after  which  and  gro¬ 
aning  over  him,  they  proceeded,  byway  of  revenge  foi 
this  sacrifice  to  which  they  had  been  thus  compelled 
by  their  law,  to  the  exterminating  of  the  whole  tribe  of 
the  Thyvees  in  the  village  of  which  the  author  of  the 
1  Wheeler’s  History  of  India  Vo!.  4,  p,  479, 


380  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.  io. 

mischief  was  an  inhabitant.  Yet  even  in  this  they 
showed  that, in  the  midst  of  their  wild  superstition, they 
could  remember  equity;  and  as  they  were  well  informed 
how  the  thing  had  passed,  care  had  been  taken  to  pre¬ 
advise  the  Thyvees  of  what  was  intended,  that  they 
might  timely  save  themselves,  till  the  day  particularly 
set  for  the  massacre  was  over,  after  which  it  was  not 
lawful  for  them  to  revive  the  procedure,  so  that  when 
the  storm  was  over,  they  might  without  danger  return 
to  their  habitations.  However,  if  a  woman  in  that 
country  lies  with  one  of  an  inferior  caste,  they  do  not 
indeed,  put  her  to  death,  but  as  being  ipso  facto  degra¬ 
ded.  She  is  seized  and  sold  as  a  slave.”1 

m 

Captain  Hamilton  in  the  latter  part  of  the  17th  cen¬ 
tury  writes,  “If  a  Foliar  or  Tivye  meet  a  Nair  on  the 
road,  he  must  go  aside  to  let  his  worship  pass,  lest  the 
air  should  be  tainted,  on  pain  of  severe  chastisement  if 
not  death.  But  the  Pulachies  are  in  a  much  worse  state. 
*  *  *  If  accidently  they  see  any  one  com¬ 

ing  towards  them,  they  will  howl  like  dogs,  and  run 
away,  lest  those  of  quality  should  take  offence  at  their 
breathing  the  same  air  that  they  do”.2 

The  description  above  set  forth  is  not  as  true  now 
as  it  may  have  been  when  it  was  written.  For  to-day 
even  the  Pulayas,  Pariahs,  Ullstans  and  Nsyadis  have 
access  to  public  roads,  markets,  hospitals,  courts,  and 
offices  as  any  other  race.  They  have  also  schools 
started  for  them  and  have  admission  in  other  schools 
as  well,  where  they  are  taught  free  and  are  supplied 
with  books  and  cloths  and  with  a  meal  a  day. 

Except  for  the  proselyetising  endeavours  of  Chris¬ 
tian  Missionaries,  little  or  nothing  was  done  in  early 
days  to  improve  the  social  position  of  these  submerged 
classes.  Christianity,  as  well  as  Mahomedanism* 
afforded  them  considerable  liberty,  and  many  sought  re¬ 
fuge  within  the  fold  of  those  religions.  But  it  is 

x*  Voyages  Vol,  I,  pp.  188 — 9. 

7%  Pinkerton’s  Voyages,  Vol.  8,  pp.  738—9. 


GOING  ARMED 


381 


N.  28.I 

surprising  to  note  the  tenacity  with  which  these  lower 
classes  have  all  along  held  firm  to  the  faith  of  the  fore¬ 
fathers  in  spite  of  the  over-powering  disabilities  with 
which  Hinduism,  or  rather  Brahmanism,  handicapped 
them,  and  the  advantages  they  derived  by  a  mere 
change  of  religion.  The  allurements  offered  by  a  change 
of  faith — personal  liberty,  freedom  of  action,  prosper¬ 
ity  in  life,  and  a  thousand  other  worldly  blessings — 
seem  to  count  for  little  with  these  rude,  illiterate  men, 
when  it  comes  to  a  question  of  the  giving  up  of  the  faith 
of  their  ancestors.  But  there  can  be  little  doubt  that, 
unless  the  Hindu  religion  can  devise  some  means  to 
take  them  into  its  bosom,  alleviate  their  sufferings,  and 
elevate  them  to  the  position  of  civilised  human  beings, 
Mahomedanism  and  Christianity  will  in  the  long  run 
absorb  them.  There  is  enough  work  here  for  Hindu 
philanthropists. 

28.  These  carry  a  naked  sword.  Till  but 
recently,  the  Nsyars  always  carried  their  arms  with 
them  wherever  they  went.  Says  Camoens  in  the  Lusiad 
“The  shining  faulchion  brandished  in  the  right 
Their  left  arm  wields  the  target  in  the  fight.” 
Barbosa  tells  us  that,  in  his  day,  the  Nsyars  had  “no 
other  duty  than  to  carry  on  war,  and  they  continually 
carry  their  arms  with  them,  which  are  swords,  arrows, 
bucklers  and  lances.”  According  to  Varthema,  “when 
they  go  through  the  street,  if  they  did  not  carry  arms 
they  would  no  longer  be  gentlemen.”  Linschoten 
observes  “The  Nayros  must  (in  all  places)  where  they 
go  and  stand,  weare  such  armes  as  are  appointed  for 
them  and  always  be  readie  at  the  ’Knight’s  command* 
ment  (to  do  him  service):  some  of  them  always  do  bear 
a  naked  Rapier  or  Courtelas  in  their  right  hands,  and 
a  great  target  in  their  left  hands.” 

So  also  says  Pyrard  who  saw  in  Cochin  Njyars 
walking  about  the  streets  armed  with  sword  and  shield 
and  making  a  ringing  noise.  “You  see  the  streets  of 
all  the  towns  on  the  Malabar  Coast”  says  Nieuhoff 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


382 

“full  of  Nayros,  with  their  arms  always  about  them  tho' 
many  of  them  dwell  in  the  countrie.”  Jonathan  Duncan, 
one  of  the  Bengal  Commissioners  to  Malabar  in  1792 — 
93,  and  who  was  afterwards  Governor  of  Bombay,  after 
quoting  the  lines  above  quoted  from  the  Lusiad  obser¬ 
ves,  “These  lines  contain  a  good  description  of  a 
Nair,  who  walks  along  holding  up  his  naked  sword 
with  the  same  kind  of  unconcern  as  travellers  in  other 
countries  carry  in  their  hands  a  cane  or  walking-staff. 
I  have  observed  others  of  them  have  it  fastened  to  their 
back,  the  hilt  being  stuck  in  their  waist  band  and  the 
blade  rising  up  and  glittering  between  their  shoulders.”i 

29.  Katajanel  or  Katu|tila  a  sword  with 
winding  edge. 

30.  Various  weapons  of  war.  Early  travellers 
speak  of  their  using  bows,  arrows,  swords,  shields, 
spears,  pikes,  and  other  arms  of  offence  and  defence. 
The  use  of  fire-arms  was  also  not  altogether  unknown 
to  them.  Abdur  Razak  in  1442  says,  “in  one  hand 
they  hold  an  Indian  poignard,  which  has  the  brilliance 
of  a  drop  of  water,  and  in  the  other  a  buckler  of  ox-hide, 
which  might  be,  taken  fora  piece  of  mist.”*.  In  1514* 
Gasper  Correa,  describing  a  “Servant  of  the  King  (ue. 
the  Zamorin),  a  gentleman  of  birth,  whom  they  call 
Nair  f‘says,  “He  had  a  very  thin  round  shield  with 
slings  of  wood  and  vermilion,  which  glittered  very 
much,  and  a  naked  sword  with  an  iron  hilt;  the  sword 
was  short,  27  inches  long  (a  Flemish  ell),  and  broad  at 
the  point.”  Describing  an  audience  with  the  Zamorin, 
he  adds,  “close  to  the  King  stood  a  boy,  his  page:  *  * 
he  held  a  red  shield  with  a  border  of  gold  and  jewels, 
and  a  boss  in  the  centre  of  a  span's  breadth  of  the  same 
material,  and  the  rings  inside  for  the  arm  were  of  gold, 
also  a  short  drawn  sword  of  an  elb's  length,  round  at 
the  point,  with  a  hilt  of  gold  and  jewelry  with  pendant 
pearls.”3 

1.  Asiatic  Researches  Voi,  g,  pp,  10—18 

2.  Page  17. 

3*  Pp.  151,  I93>  194c 


WEAPONS  OF  WAR 


N.  30.] 


383 


Castenheda  says  “They  are  armed  with  bows  and 
arrows,  spears,  daggers, of  a  hooked  form,  and  targets’'. 
Besides  mentioning  the  ‘naked  Rapier  or  Coutelas* 
and  ‘the  great  Target*  which  a  Nsyar  should  always 
carry  with  him,  Linschoten  says,  “There  are  some  that 
carrie  a  Bow  and  a  venemous  Arrow  upon  their  shoulder, 
wherein  they  are  very  expert,  others  carry  long  Pikes, 
some  pieces,  with  the  Match  ready  lighted  and  wound 
about  their  armes.”  Of  their  targets  or  shields  he 
says  “Those  Targets  are  verie  great,  and  made  of  light 
wood,  so  that  when  they  will  they  can  cover  their  bo¬ 
dies  therewith:  they  are  so  well  used  thereunto,  that 
they  esteeme  it  nothing  to  beare  them,  and  when  they 
travel  on  the  way,  they  may  be  heard  a  great  way  off, 
for  that  they  commonly  make  a  great  knocking  with 
the  hilf  of  their  Rapier  against  the  Target  because  they 
would  be  heared.” 

Nieuhoff  observes,  “Their  arms  are  bows,  arrows, 
javelins,  swords  and  shields;  these  are  very  large, 
which  they  use  with  the  utmost  dexterity  to  cover 
their  bodies.  On  the  hilt  of  the  swords  they  have  small 
plates  of  metal,  which  make  :  a  noise  when  they  are 
fighting,  and  serves  to  [animate  them.”  They  were 
expert  bow  men  “who  drew  the  bow  with  such  skill 
that  their  second  shaft  often  split  the  first.”1  Ralph  Fitch 
(1583)  observes  that  they  are  “good  archers  with  a  long 
bow  and  a  long  arrow,  which  is  their  best  weapon:  yet 
there  be  some  calivers  among  them  but  they  handle 
them  badly.” 

“On  the  hilts  of  their  swords”,  says  Bakieus  in 
1661,  “they  wear  certain  pieces  of  metal,  which 
making  a  noise  as  they  move,  serve  them  for  certain 
musick.  They  are  very  dexterous  in  defending  their 
bodies  with  their  shields,  and,  consequently  better  at 
wac<Mag  blows  than  at  firing,  for  they  commonly  fire 
too  high”. 

In  addition  to  the  citations  already  made,  we  may 
refer  to  what  Dr.  Freyer  says  regarding  their  weapons, 


i.  M.  F.lic  Reclus,  Primitive  Folk,  p.  146. 


384.  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

“They  are  all  bred  soldiers,  and  therefore'  called 
Nairos,  the  one  part  of  them  wearing  naked  swords, 
rampant,  in  one  hand,  and  a  Target  made  of  Buffaloe’s 
hide  lacquered  and  curiously  painted  in  the  other,  with 
which  they  defend  themselves  as  assuredly  as  with  an 
iron  shield,  the  rest  of  them  walk  with  a  spiked  lance 
barbed,  as  long  as  javelin,  and  poised  at  the  But-end 
with  Lead;  at  darting  of  which  they  are  very  expert/’ 

Wilkes,  describing  the  Njyars  in  their  fight  with 
Hyder,  says,  “their  peculiar  weapon  is  an  instrument 
with  a  thin  but  very  broad  blade,  hooked,  towards  the 
edge  like  a  bill-hook  or  gardener’s  knife,  and  about  the 
length  of  a  Roman  sword  which  the  weapon  of  the 
chiefs  often  exactly  resembles.  This  hooked  instru¬ 
ment,  the  inseparable  companion  of  the  Nair  when¬ 
ever  he  quits  his  dwelling  on  business,  for  pleasure, 
or  for  war,  has  no  scabbard,  and  is  usually  grasped 
with  the  right  hand,  as  an  ornamental  appendage  in 
peace,  and  for  destruction  in  war.  When  the  Nair 
employs  his  musket  or  his  bow,  the  weapon  which  has 
been  described  is  fixed  in  an  instant,  by  means  of  a 
catch,  in  the  waist  belt,  with  the  flat  part  of  the  blade 
diagonally  across  his  back;  and  is  disengaged  as  quickly 
whenever  he  drops  his  musket  in  the  wood,  or  slings 
it  across  his  shoulders  for  the  purpose  of  rushing  to 
close  encounter  with  this  terrible  instrument/’1  Dr. 
Buchanan,  in  the  early  years  of  the  ninteenth  century, 
wrote,  in  his  Canara  and  Malabar  “both  Nairs  and 
nland  Mapillas  pretent  to  be  soldiers  by  birth 
and  disdain  all  industry.  Their  chief  delight  is 
in  parading  up  and  down  fully  armed.  Each  man  has 
a  firelock,  and  at  least  one  sword;  but  all  those  who 
wish  to  be  thought  men  of  extraordinary  courage 
carry  two  sabers”. 

The  military  dress  of  the  NSyars  was  very  scanty. 
Castenheda  says  “they  go  entirely  naked  and  barefoot¬ 
ed,  wearing  only  a  piece  of  painted  cotton  cloth,  which 
reaches  from  the  girdle  to  the  knees  and  a  cloth  or 

1.  Vol.  i,  p.  290. 


N.  32.]  MARCH  IN  SINGLE  FILE  385 

kerchief  on  their  heads”.  According  to  Varthema, 
this  kerchief  was  of  silk  and  of  vermilion  colour.  Says 
Captain  Nieuhoff,  “They  attack  their  enemies  quite 
naked,  their  privities  being  only  covered”.  Later  on 
in  the  18th  century,  Wilkes  observes  that  “the  military 
dress  of  the  Nairs  is  a  piece  of  short  drawers”.  After 
the  Travancore  Raja  constituted  a  standing  army  dis¬ 
ciplined  and  armed  on  the  European  model  under 
General  Lanoy,  that  army  was  clothed  as  the  sepoys  of 
the  European  Powers  in  India. 

31.  Country  covered  with  bushes,  etc.  Mala¬ 
bar  was  never  known  to  have  had  horses.  As  observed 
by  our  author  in  the  previous  paragraph,  the  nature 
of  the  country  was  such  that  horses  would  be  of  no  use 
there,  whether  as  beasts  of  burden  or  as  cavalry  for 
war.  So  early  as  the  14th  century,  Ibn  Batuta  has  re¬ 
marked  that  “no  one  travels  in  these  parts  upon  beasts 
of  burden,  nor  is  there  any  horse  to  be  found  except 
with  the  king,  who  is  therefore  the  only  person  who 
rides.  When,  however,  any  merchant  has  to  sell  or 
buy  goods,  these  are  carried  upon  the  backs  of  men, 
who  are  always  ready  to  do  so  (for  hire).  Every  one 
of  these  men  has  a  long  staff  whmh  is  shod  with  iron 
at  its  extremity  and  at  the  top  has  a  hook.  When,* 
therefore,  he  is  tired  with  his  burden,  he  sets  up  his 
staff  in  the  earth  like  a  pillar  and  places  the  burden 
upon  it,  and  when  he  has  rested,  he  again  takes  up  his 
burden  without  the  assistance  of  another.”  More  than 
five  centuries  have  glided  by  since  the  Arab  traveller 
wrote,  and  yet  the  modern  tourist  will  be  struck  with 
the  exactness  of  the  description,  as  he  sees  the  present 
day  carrier  in  Malabar  pass  by  with  his  burden. 

32.  (a)  Obliged  to  march  in  single  file. 

That  the  natives  were  not  altogether  blind  to  this 
advantage  is  evident  trom  what  Captain  Nieuhoff 
says  of  the  Dutch  attack  on  Quilon  and  its 
defence  by  the  Nsyars.  The  Nayars  gave  them  a  warm 
reception.  Speaking  of  the  attack  on  Captain  Polman’s 

AW. 


386  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L,  20. 

company  of  firelocks,  Nieuhoff,  says,  “here  you  might 
have  seen  them  fight  like  desperate  men, the  engagement 
was  very  terrible  considering  the  number  £f  men  on 
both  sides.”  “They  had  however  in  the  meanwhile 
attacked  our  rear  several  times,  because  our  heavy  can¬ 
non  could  not  come  up  soon  enough  with  us,  by  reason 
of  the  narrowness  of  the  way;  the  enemy  making  use  of 
this  advantage  attacked  us  very  furiously,  but  were 
bravely  repulsed  by  the  help  of  our  field  pieces,  which 
being  charged  with  small  shot,  were  discharged  among 
them  with  such  success,  that  many  of  them  remained 
dead  on  the  spot,  and  by  this  means  we  kept  them  so 
long  in  play,  till  we  received  a  reasonable  reinforce¬ 
ment. 

33.  The  elephant  abounds  in  the  Malabar 
forests  and  there  are  magnificent  specimens  of  them 
almost  in  abundance.  They  are  caught  in  pits,  and 
are  used  for  various  purposes,  such  as  for  dragging 
timber  from  the  forests,  for  transporting  baggage,  as 
also  for  ceremonial  processions,  when  they  are  decked 
in  gorgeous  trappings.  They  were  in  former  times  also 
employed  in  war.  “Those  on  the  animal’s  back,  com¬ 
fortably  supplied  with  arrows  and  missiles  of  ail  sorts, 
shot  them  off  with  telling  effect — and  no  less  evil  glee 
— on  t fie  enemy.”1 

34.  They  make  musket- barrels,  and  take  sure 
aim.  Baldens  informs  us  that  “they  (theNairs)  make  their 
gun  barrels,  own  gunpowder,  and  matches.”  Muskets 
and  cannon  were  not  altogether  unknown  to  Malabar 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Portuguese.  It  is  said  that 
Vasco  da  Gama’s  ships  had  cannon  of  a  kind,  but  such 
weapons  were  quite  unknown  on  the  African  coast, 
while  on  the  Malabar  Coast,  though  not  unknown, 
they  were  not  in  use.  Early  in  1503,  two  Milanese 
lapidaries,  Joa  Maria  and  Piero  Antonio,  who  under¬ 
stood  gun  founding,  deserted  from  the  Portuguese  for 
the  Zamorin’s  service.  They  cast  a  number  of  guns 
it  Varthema,  p.  151. 


v  To  face  p.  386. 


t 


N.  3S] 


FIRST  SFIOT  HITS 


387 


and  trained  many  artificers,  before  they  were  killed 
in  a  riot  a  few  years  later,  on  suspicion  that  they 
were  going  to  desert  from  the  Zamorin  and  go 
back  to  the  Portuguese.  Varthema  made  their 
acquaintance  at  Calicut.  In  1505,  four  Venetians 
reached  Malabar  in  the  Red  Sea  ships  in  order  to  cast 
artillery,1  and  from  this  time  the  knowledge  of  the  art 
remained  in  India*2  It  is  noteworthy  that  when  Da  Gama 
visited  Calicut  a  second  time  in  1 502  and  bombarded 
it,  the  Zamorin  had,  as  an  eye  witness  (Thomas  Lopes) 
states,  only  two  inferior  pieces  in  position ;  those  who 
worked  them  had  no  idea  of  aiming  and  they  took  long 
to  load.  In  the  following  year,  when  the  Zamorin  at¬ 
tacked  Duarte  Pachecco  with  all  his  forces,  he  could 
only  bring  some  iron-guns  that  shot  stones  as  hard  as 
a  man  could  throw  them.  “The  balls  of  the  enemy,” 
says  Castenheda  “though  cast  of  iron,  had  no  effect 
than  as  many  stones  thrown  by  the  hand.”3  According 
to  Linschoten,  they  carried  with  them  “some  Pieces, 
with  the  Match  ready  lighted,  and  wound  about  their 
arms,  and  have  the  best  Lockes  that  possibly  may  be 
found  in  all  Europe,  which  they  knew  so  well  how  to 
use,  that  the  Portugals  can  have  no  advantage  against 
them.”  Captain  Nieuhoff  tells  us  “Since  the  Portn« 
guese  and  Dutch  have  got  footing  there,  they  have  also 
learned  the  use  of  firearms  to  •  that  degree,  that  they 
will  turn  right  and  left,  and  give  a  volley  of  shot  with 
the  same  order  as  the  Europeans  do.”  Again,  “The 
Malabars  have  great  store  of  artillery,  muskets  and 
pikes;  nay  their  arms  were  in  more  esteem  than  those 
of  the  Portuguese,  only  they  did  not  know  the  art  of 
hardening  their  armour.  They  now  make  very  good 
and  strong  gun-barrels  and  gunpowder.” 

35.  First  shot  hits.  Baldeus  remarks  that  the 
Nayars  commonly  fire  too  high  though  according  to 

j.  Castenheda  II,  p.  12. 

2.  Whiteway’s  Rise  of  the  Portuguese  Pow  rt  p.  37, 

3.  Castenheda ,  I,  p.  68. 


388 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L:  20. 

Sir  Hector  Munro,  who  had  occasion  to  encounter 
Nsyar  troops  in  the  field,  has  observed  that  “they  point 
their  guns  well,  and  fire  them  well  also.” 

36.  Barbarous  Nations.  Our  author  calls  the 
Malayalees  a  barbarous  nation.  But  let  us  hear  the 
estimate  formed  of  them  in  particular,  and  of  the  Hin¬ 
dus  in  general,  by  an  English  man  who  had  the  ,  capa¬ 
city  and  willingness  to  compare  them  with  the  Portu¬ 
guese  one  of  the  most  civilized  European  nations  of 
the  time  with  whom  they  came  in  contact.  After 
referring  to  the  combined  testimony  of  a  Persian  (Ab¬ 
dul  Razak),  an  Italian  (Varthema),  and  a  Frenchman 
(Pyrard  de  Laval),  to  the  religious  tolerance,  the  strict 
administration  of  justice,  the  commercial  probity  and 
the  universal  contentment  of  the  people  and  the  high 
state  of  civilization  to  which  Calicut  had  attained  in 
spite  of  a  century  of  desolating  war,  Mr.  Whiteway 
observes  that  these  lead  to  the  irresistable  conclusion 
that  “The  Indians  of  that  day  were  more  civilised  than 
the  Portuguese.”  In  nothing  was  their  relative  civili¬ 
zation  more  shown,”  says  Mr.  Whiteway  “than  in 
their  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war.  The  Portuguese 
killed  with  the  most  horrible  tortures  or  enslaved  all 
prisoners  whom  they  could  not  hold  to  ransom.  They 
even  flung  the  dead  bodies  of  their  captives  on  the 
shores  and  watched  them  to  extort  a  ransom  from 
any  one  who  showed  an  interest  in  the  corpse.1  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Portuguese  who  were  captured 
were  in  the  early  days  treated  with  the  greatest  huma¬ 
nity.  Malik  Aiyaz,  one  of  their  bitterest  opponents, 
wrote  to  Almeida  that,  while  the  fighting  was  in  pro¬ 
gress,  it  was.  the  duty  of  either  side  to  do  all  they  could 
to  conquer  the  enemy,  but,  once  the  enemy  was  con¬ 
quered,  he  must  be  treated  as  a  brother  and  what  is 
more,  he  practised  as  he  wrote ;  for  he  treated  his 
Portuguese  captives,  with  the  greatest  kindness  and 
after  the  defeat  of  D,  Lourenco  at  Chaul  he  sought  for 

1.  Correa  III,  p.  835. 


BARBAROUS  NATIONS 


389 


N,  36.] 

his  adversary's  body  to  give  it  a  decent  burial.*  Things 
changed  somewhat  in  later  days  when  the  natives  of 
India  had  been  educated  by  their  Christian  adversa¬ 
ries ;  still  as  late  as  1559,  when  St.  Thome  was  held 
to  ransom  for  the  intolerant  acts  of  some  Jesuits  and 
Franciscans,  the  Raja  of  Vijayanagara  kept  such  faith 
with  the  Portuguese,  that  as  one  of  them  says  such 
humanity  and  justice  are  not  to  be  found  among  Chris¬ 
tians  2. 

“There  are  traces  that  the  better  side  of  the  Indian 
nature  struck  the  more  savage  Portuguese  with  asto¬ 
nishment.  Two  pictures  may  be  given  from  one  voyage 
of  Martin  Correa  up  the  coast  in  1521  of  which  it  was 
said,  as  it  was  of  many  others  that  it  was  an  unneces¬ 
sary  expedition  as  the  people  they  robbed  were  but 
poor  people  who  neither  followed  the  sea  nor  did  evil  to 
anyone.  Landing  at  one  place,  Correa  marched  up  coun¬ 
try  with  25  men  till  he  came  to  a  large  country  hoiise. 
*  *  *  Here  among  the  captives  Correa  took 

was  an  old  man  past  work  who  offered  £  3  for  his 
liberty  and  asked  that,  as  he  had  no  friends,  he  might 
be  allowed  to  fetch  the  money  himself.  Correa  more 
in  jest  than  in  earnest,  gave  him  his  liberty  and  made 
him  swear  on  his  sacred  cord,  for  he  was  a  Brahman, 
to  bring  the  money  back.  A  few  days  later,  to  the 
amusement  of  the  Portuguese,  the  old  Brahman  return¬ 
ed  with  half  the  money  and  8  fowls  in  lieu  of  the  rest 
— all  that  he  had  been  able  to  scrape  together.  To 
the  credit  of  the  Portuguese  they  refused  to  take  any¬ 
thing  from  him.”3 

“They  were  completely  ignorant  of  the  religious 
and  social  systems  with  which  they  were  brought  into 
contact  and  they  made  no  attempt  to  understand  them. 
They  took  all  Indians,  except  the  Mahommadans,  to  be 
Christians  and  they  actually  in  this  belief  worshipped 

1.  Barros,  pp.  2 — 9. 

2.  Correa,  II,  p,  68.  The  anecdotes  are  from  Castenheda  VI 
Chapters  2  and  3. 

3.  Whiteway  p.  20. 


390 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


in  a  Hindu  Temple  at.  Calicut.1  Pedro  Alverz  Cabral 
sent  some  converted  fishermen  as  envoys  to  the  Zamo- 
rin  not  knowing  that  the  Zamorin  would  not  even  look 
on  them.  This  same  Commander  considered  it  a  per¬ 
sonal  insult  that  the  Zamorin  should  have  asked  that  the 
Nair  hostages  should  be  allowed  on  shore  from  the 
ships  to  eat,  else  they  should  be  starved.2  The  Zamo¬ 
rin  was  of  course  referring  to  a  strict  caste  rule.  In 
1504,  Durate  Pacheco,  who  had  been  some  time  in  the 
country,  almost  quarrelled  with  his  faithful  ally,  the 
Raja  of  Cochin,  when  he  said  he  was  unable  to  make 
some  low  caste  men  Nairs.  Several  instances  of  the 
Zamorin’s  honesty  are  given  by  Mr.  Logan.3  The 
Cochin  Raja’s  refusal  to  give  up  the  handful  of  Portu¬ 
guese  left  with  him  on  the  departure  of  the  Admiral  to 
Europe,  though  he  was  much  pressed  to  do  so  by  his 
own  ministers  and  the  Portuguese  themselves,  so  that 
he  may  save  himself  and  his  country  from  the  infuriate 
Zamorin,  is  a  fact  recorded  in  history.  Of  this 
incident  Faria-y-Souza  writes  “The  King  of  Calicut 
envying  the  advantage  he  of  Cochin  made  of  our 
trade,  got  together  50,000  men  at  Patana,  16 
leagues  from  Cochin,  with  other  preparations  of 
war.  The  people  of  Cochin  fearing  that  power  were 
for  delivering  up  the  Portuguese  to  him  of  Calicut, 
who  demanded  nothing  more.  But  Tirumumpara, 
King  of  Cochin,  refused  and  went  out  with  3  of  his 
nephews  and  small  force  to  meet  the  enemy.  At  the 
first  charge  he  was  forsaken  by  some  of  his  nobles,  yet 
assisted  by  the  Portuguese,  valiantly  maintained  a  pass, 
till  his  nephews  were  killed,  whereof  one  was  General, 
he  was  forced  to  fly  and  secure  himself  in  the  Island  of 
Vaipi,  near  to  and  more  tenable  than  Cochin,  which 
was  burnt,  and  he  persisted  in  not  delivering  up  the 
Portuguese;  a  notable  example  of  fidelity  in  a  heathen 
scarce  to  be  paralleled  among  Christians*" 4 

1.  Page  30. 

2.  Castenheda  I — 35. 

3.  Vol.  I,  p.  278, 

4.  Portuguese  Asia,  vol.  I.,  p.  /o. 


BARBAROUS  NATIONS 


391 


N.  36.] 

We  are  here  not  concerned  with  the  comparative 
merits  of  the  two  civilizations.  Our  object  is  simply 
to  point  out  that  the  M'alayalees  were  not  the  ‘barbari¬ 
ans’  that  our  author  wants  to  make  out.  That  Mr. 
Whiteway  does  not  stand  alone  in  his  view  that  the 
Hindus,  while  yet  unaffected  by  foreign  influence,  were 
a  highly  civilized  race  is  evident  from  the  remarks  of 
Col:  Yule,  already  quoted. 

One  or  two  passages  quoted  from  Portuguese  and 
Spanish  writers  themselves  may  throw  some  light  on 
the  question.  Referring  to  the  magnanimous  conduct 
of  Mahomet  Anconii,  on  whose  head  the  Portuguese 
had  placed  the  crown  of  Quiloa,  in  sending  for  the  son 
of  the  late  King  Alfudail  and  resigning  it  to  him,  Faria 
-y-Sousa  observes: — ‘‘This  example  in  a  heathen  might 
confound  the  inhuman  insolence  and  barbarity  in 
Christians  (at  least  those  who  pretend  to  the  name), 
who  wade  through  seas  of  blood,  rend  the  most  sacred 
bonds  of  consanguinity  and  alliance;  spoil  Provinces, 
oppress  the  good,  exalt  the  wicked,  make  honesty, 
treason,  and  perjury,  duty  and  religion,  a  property  to 
work  their  ambitious  cursed  ends,  to  wit,  to  snatch 
sceptors  and  crowns  from  the  hands  and  heads  where 
the  eternal  Providence  has  most  worthily  placed  them”.* 

It  is  claimed  for  the  Portuguese  that  “their  admi¬ 
nistration  generally  strove  more  to  propogate  religion 
than  to  increase  trade”;  and  it  is  said  that  it  would  be 
wrong  to  neglect  the  intentions  of  an  administration  in 
judging  of  its  success  and  failure.  Now  let  us  hear 
what  a  minister  of  state  said  to  Philip  IV  of  Spain  on 
the  point.  “It  is  a  vain  conceit”,  he  said,  “if  it  please 
Your  Majesty,  that  the  world  has  entertained  of  the 
zeal  of  the  Portuguese  upon  account  of  the  conversions 
that  have  been  made  by  them  in  the  Indies;  for  it  was 
covetousness,  and  not  zeal,  that  engaged  them  to  make 
all  those  conquests*  The  conversions  that  have  been 
made  there  were  effected  by  the  Divine  power,  and  the 

1.  Portuguese  Asia,  vol.  1.  p.  88. 


392 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[Li  20# 


charity  of  a  few  particular  Friars,  the  Government  and 
Crown  having  no  other  aim  therein ,  but  the  robbing  of 
kingdoms  and  cities :  and  there  were  always  the  greatest 
conversions  where  there  was  most  to  gratify  their 
covetousness.  -  But  where  there  was  nothing  to  be  had 
there  the  people  were  obdurate,  and  not  to  be  wrought 
upon.  And  so  we  see  their  zeal  expired  quickly  in  all 
places,  where  it  was  not  animated  by  covetousness,  and 
they  who  had  nothing  else  to  say  but,  Lord  Open 
unto  us,  were  not  thought  fit  to  enter  into  Heaven”.1 

The  testimony  of  Faria  is  also  to  the  same  effect. 
Towards  the  close  of  his  Asia  Portuguese ,  he  observes 
as-  follows: — “It  is  remarkable  that,  among  all  the 
persons  who  have  gone  to  the  Indies,  whether  as 
Governors,  captains  or  merchants,  .of  which  sort  most 
of  them  were  in  truth,  there  has  not  been  one  that  . has 
raised  a  family  of  any  consideration,  out  of  the  goods 
they  have  got  in  these  parts  either  there  or  in  Portugal 
though  there  have  been  several  of  them  that  have  got 
there  one,  two,  three  or  four  millions.  Now  that  noth¬ 
ing  considerable  of  all  these  vast  treasures  should  any¬ 
where  appear,  must  be  for  one  or  both  of  these  two 
reasons;  first  that  whereas  God  permitted  the  discovery 
of  this  country,  only  for  the  propagation  of  His  name 
and  the  true  worship  (but  not  by  such  barbarous 
methods  as  the  forementioned,  I  venture  to  say,)  these 
travellers  have,  for  the  most  part,  persued  the  ends  of 
a  sacrilegious  covetousness,  committing  many  acts  of 
injustice  to  fill  their  coffers,  instead  of  having  any 
regard  to  religion;  the  other  is,  because  the  most  of 
those  riches  were  gained  by  the  injust  means  of  tyran¬ 
nies,  robberies  and  all  sorts  of  insolence,  of  which  you 
have  many  instances  in  the  foregoing  history.” 

St.  Francis  Xavier  found  the  Portuguese  on  his 
arrival  at  Goa,  May  6th,  1542,  in  a  most  demoralised 
condition.  In  the  words  of  Hough,  “Though  Goa 

1.  See  the  passage  cited  atpp,  158 — 159  in  Hough’s  History 
of  Christianity  in  India,  Vol.  i. 


BARBAROUS  NATIONS 


393 


N.  36,1 

abounded  in  priests  and  monks,  with  a  Bishop  at  their 
head,  yet  their  admonitions  had  been  long  disregarded 
by  men  intent  on  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  and  the 
indulgence  of  their  passions.  Xavier  must  have  felt, 
that  it  would  be  in  vain  to  endeavour  to  convert  the 
heathens  to  a  religion,  the  moral  character  of  whose 
professors  was  so  inferior  to  their  own.  He  therefore 
set  himself  vigorously  to  work  to  reform  this  state  of 
things.”  That  this  is  not  an  exaggerated  or  prejudiced 
statement  is  evident  from  the  observations  of  Father 
Coleridge,  the  Saint’s  biographer,  who  says,  “The 
majority  of  the  Portuguese,  even  after  the  reform  in¬ 
troduced  by  him,  and  much  more  before  that  time,  seem 
to  have  been  much  in  their  lives  and  conduct  as  to  merit 
the  severe  language  in  which  many  writers  speak  of 
them  *  *  *  *  and,  indeed,  the  lives  of  the  majority  of 
the  Christians  were  such  as  to  scandalize  and  revolt 
them  (the  natives).  Many  of  the  Portuguese  led  the 
most  licentious  lives,  as  too  many  of  the  European 
officers  and  officials  do  at  the  present  time.”1 

Hough,  after  quoting  a  long  extract  from  a  con¬ 
temporary  Mahomedan  writer  to  be  found  at  pp.  20 — 21 
of  the  5th  vob  of  the  Asiatic  Researches  and  supple¬ 
menting  it  with  the  text  of  Hidalcaon’s  (Adil  Khan’s?) 
protest  against  the  conduct  of  the  Portuguese  addres¬ 
sed  to  the  Viceroy,  Don  Luis  d’  Ataide,  remarks: — “In 
these  transactions  the  Christians  and  the  Mahomedans 
seem  to  have  changed  characters,  the  Mahomedan 
writing  like  a  Christian,  and  the  Christians  behaving 
themselves  like  Mahomedans.”2 

Hough’s  chapter  on  a  “Comparative  view  of  the 
Syrians  and  Portuguese  in  India  in  the  16th  century,” 
will  be  found  interesting  reading  in  this  connection. 
He  derives  his  information  regarding  the  early  Syrian 
Christians  of  Malabar  from  writers  such  as  Antonio 

1.  The  Life  and  letters  of  St.  Francis  Xavier ,  3rd  Ed.  Vot.  /, 

p.  124 . 

2.  Vol.  1,  pp.  268^-69. 


394  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

Gouvea,  who  wrote  in  Portuguese  the  history  of 
Archbishop  Meneze’s  attempt  to  subdue  the  Syrian 
Church  and  of  the  famous  Synod  of  Diamper,  and' 
Vincente  Marie  de  Sainte  Catherine  de  Siene,  who  was 
sent  to  Malabar,  with  three  other  friars  of  his  order,  by 
Pope  Alexander  VII,  in  the  year  1656, — writers  “who 
were  not  likely  to  invest  the  Syrians  with  imaginary 
virtues,  nor  to  attribute  to  them  favourable  qualities 
which  they  did  not  possess:  and  it  is  equally  improbable 
that  they  should  describe  the  Portuguese  as  inferior  to 
them  in  morals  and  religion,  could  they  have  discovered 
a  fair^pretext  for  giving  their  countrymen  a  superior 
character.’’  Hough’s  information  regarding  the  Portu¬ 
guese  of  the  period  is  derived  from  Vincenzo  Maria, 
the  Carmelite  Missionary.1  To  the  testimony  of 
the  Italian  Missionary,  Hough  adds  those  of  Linscho- 
ten,  Tavernier  and  other  travellers,  all  Portuguese 
and  Italians,  and  therefore  interested  in  giving  the  best 
account  they  could  of  this  people. 

The  result  of  the  comparison  is  much  to  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  the  Indian.  In  very  many,  if  not  in  most, 
respects  the  Indian  was  superior  to  the  Portuguese, 
Speaking  of  the  courteous  manners  of  the  Indian, 
Hough  observes. — “They  are  also  regarded  as  one 
cause  of  that  suavity  observed  in  their  general  deport¬ 
ment,  which  is  so  agreeable  to  strangers.  In  these 
respects,  they  may  read  an  important  lesson  to  Chris¬ 
tians  boasting  greater  light,  and  a  higher  degree  of 
civilization.”  Hough  refers  to  the  remarks  of  Vincent 
Marie  de  S.  Catherine  de  Siene  on  the  pacific  character 
of  the  Syrians  in  the  year  1656  under  extreme  provoca¬ 
tion,  that  “he  was  unable  fully  to  express  his  admiration 
of  what  he  observed.  For  he  says,  that  he  could  not 
help  contrasting  it  with  the  frequent  assassinations 
that  he  was  accustomed  to  see  or  hear  of  both  in  Italy 

1.  Lib  ii,  C.  18,  pp.  202— 203— La  Christianita  che  vine,  etc., 
La  Croze,  pp.  87— 89, — where  the  other  Italian  and  Portuguese 
authorities  are  all  given. 


N.  37.]  IGNORANCE  OF  BELEAGUERING  395 

and  in  all  the  colonies  of  the  Portuguese  in  India.’* 
Hough’s  conclusion,  after  the  comparison  instituted  by 
him  on  the  testimony  of  European  writers  themselves, 
apart  from  the  question  of  religion,  may  be  set  forth  in 
his  own  words:  “With  all  their  ignorance  and  imper¬ 
fections,  they  were  to  the  Portuguese  as  light  to  dark¬ 
ness,  as  salt  to  clay.”1  Even  if  we  doubt  the  impartiality 
of  Hough  on  account  of  his  hostility  to  the  Romish 
Church,  his  conclusions  on  the  present  question  can 
scarcely  be  impeached  as  they  are  based  on  the  state¬ 
ment  of  facts  by  contemporary  Portuguese  and  Italian 
writers  belonging  to  the  Roman  Church  who  can  in  no 
way  be  suspected  to  have  any  bias  in  favour  of  the 
Indians  or  against  the  Portuguese. 

37.  Ignorant  of  the  science  of  beleaguering 
strongholds.  Before  the  arrival  of  the  Portuguese  the 
Nayars  had  to  fight  only  their  own  class  people.  Tne 
Malabar  Rajas  never  ventured  to  cross  the  Ghauts  and 
extend  their  conquests  beyond  the  borders  of  their 
own  country.  Their  quarrels  were  confined  among 
themselves.  So  that  they  had  no  occasion  to  improve 
upon  their  own  methods  of  warfare,  much  less  imitate 
or  learn  the  improved  methods  of  others.  There  was, 
however,  some  close  connection  between  the  Hindu 
Empire  of  Vijayanagara  and  Malabar.  We  learn  from 
Mr.  Robert  Sewell’s  work  on  Vijayanagara  that,  from 
about  1336  to  1570  A,  D.,  Malabar  formed  a  portion  of 
the  Vijayanagara  Empire,  and  that  large  drafts  of 
soldiers  from  Malabar,  presumably  mostly  Nayars,  took 
part  in  the  final  defence  of  Vijayanagara,  when  that 
city  was  sacked  and  destroyed  by  the  Mahomedans  in 
1565.2  We  know  from  inscriptions  that  the  Vijayanagara 
Kings  had  conquered  Travancore  about  this  time,  and 
had  exacted  tribute  from  that  King.  Notwithstanding 
this,  we  see  no  reason  to  think  that  the  Nayars  had 
occasion  to  study  the  art  of  war  as  practised  by  others. 

1.  Vol.  1  pp.  to  332. 

a.  A  Forgotten  Empire ,  p.  201, 


396  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

European  arms  of  precision  were  all  but  unknown 
to  them.  ‘‘They  were  innocent  of  castrametation, 
tactics,  or  discipline.  Of  that  rigour  of  discipline — 
the  key-stone  of  what  an  army  might  accom¬ 
plish,  of  the  value  of  order  and  arrangement  in  the 
disposition  of  troops;  of  the  skill  which  sets  large 
numbers  of  men  in  motion  or  aids  the  evolution  of 
cavalry  (which  never  formed  part  of  their  armament), 
of  sieges,  convoys:  or  pitched  engagements,  they  knew 
next  to  nothing.  Their  first  wars  were  therefore  rather 
of  the  petty  skirmishing  type,  and  indeed  consisted  of 
the  combat  of  chiefs,  of  ambuscades,  and  surprises,  of 
forays  at  harvest  time,  ravaging  the  enemy’s  country, 
and  racking  the  inhabitants  till  they  give  up  their  hoards; 
of  burning,  pillage,  and  rapine.  No  sooner  did  the 
rival  parties  meet,  than  they  fell  to  reproaches  and 
bravado. ’’'This  description  of  Whiteaway  tallies  almost 
exactly  with  what  we  read  of  wars  and  battles  in  the 
Ramayana  and  the  Maha  Bharata ,  where,  though  we 
often  see  mention  jnade  of  the  disposition  of  armies  in 
various  forms,  the  single  combat  between  chiefs  of  each 
party  takes  the  most  prominent  place.  The  descrip¬ 
tion  of  such  combats  contained  in  the  Katha-Kali  or 
the  Malayalam  Drama,  no  doubt,  reflects  the  practice 
as  it  obtained  in  Malabar,  and  it  is  indeed  significant 
that  the  characters,  as  soon  as  they  appear  on  the  stage, 
and  prepare  themselves  to  fight,  fall  to  reproaches  and 
bravado.  Hence  perhaps  the  contemptuous  remark  of 
Couto  that  “the  Hindus  in  India  fight  more  with  their 
tongues  bhan  with  their  hands”.  But  it  was  not  long 
before  the  Europeans  learnt  that  the  Hindus  were 
capable  of  fighting  with  their  hands  as  well,  and  took 
advantage  of  it  by  availing  themselves  of  their  services 
to  subdue  their  brethren. 

We  have  an  interesting  description  of  “the  fight¬ 
ing  of  the  Nairs”  given  us  by  Varthema,  which  gives 
us  some  idea  of  the  mode  of  Malayalee  fighting  in  the 
pre-European  days. 


IGNORANCE  OF  BELEAGUERING 


397 


N.  37-] 

“In  genera]  they  practise  every  day  with  swords, 
shields,  and  lances*  And  when  they  go  to  war,  the 
King  of  Calicut  maintains  constantly  1,00,000  people 
of  foot,  because  they  do  not  make  use  of  horses,  only 
of  some  elephants  for  the  person  of  the  King.  And  all 
the  people  wear  a  cloth  round  the  head  made  of  silk 
and  vermilion  colour,  and  they  carry  swords,  shields, 
and  lances,  and  bows.  The  King  carries  an  umbrella, 
instead  of  a  standard,  made  like  the  stem  of  a  boot:  it  is 
formed  of  the  leaves  of  a  tree,  and  is  fixed  on  the  end 
of  a  cane  and  made  to  keep  off  the  sun  from  the  King. 
And  when  they  are  in  battle,  and  one  army  is  distant 
from  the  other  two  ranges  of  a  cross-bow,  the  King 
says  to  the  Brahman,  ‘Go  into  the  camp  of  the  enemy, 
and  tell  the  King  to  let  100  of  his  Naeri  come,  and  I 
will  go  with  a  ioo  of  mine.’  and  thus  they  both  go  to 
the  middle  of  the  space  and  begin  to  fight  in  this 
manner.  Altho’  they  fight  for  3  days,  they  always  give 
two  direct  blows  at  the  head  and  one  at  the  legs.  And 
when  4  or  6  on  either  side  are  killed,  the  Brahmans 
enter  into  the  midst  of  them  and  make  both  parties 
return  to  the  camp.  And  the  said  Brahmans  immedi- 
ately  go  to  the  armies  on  both  sides  and  say,  Nur 
Mauezar  hanno.  The  King  answers  Matile  that  is,  ‘Do 
you  not  wish  for  any  more?’  The  Brahman  says, ‘No’  and 
the  adverse  party  does  the  same.  And  in  this  manner 
they  fight  one  hundred  against  one  hundred,  And 
this  is  the  mode  of  fighting.  Sometimes  the  King 
rides  on  an  elephant  and  sometimes  the  Naeri  carry 
him;  and  when  they  carry  him  they  always  run.”1  The 
Kings  never  spared  themselves.  Castenheda  observes, 
“when  these  Kings  are  at  war  with  each  other,  they 
often  go  personally  into  the  field,  and  even  joinpersonal- 
ly  in  fight  upon  occasion.’’  Sheik  Zeen-ud-deen 
observes,  “In  their  wars  they  have  seldom  recourse  to 
treachery:  but,  fixing  upon  a  certain  day  with  their 
enemies  when  to  decide  their  quarrel  by  arms,  they 

1,  P,  151. 


398  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

regard  any  treacherous  departure  from  this  engagement 
both  as  base  and  unworthy/'1 

Their  method  of  fighting  was  faulty.  No  doubt, 
as  observed  by  Castenheda,  “they  march  in  a  very 
regular  and  warlike  manner.”  Their  fighting  was 
very  irregular.  Among  large  bodies  of  men  fighting  in 
masses  the  fire-arms  of  the  Portuguese  did  great 
execution,  causing  the  death  of  large  numbers  of 
men.  They  are  nimble  on  foot  and  their  extraordinary 
agility  made  them  the  terror  of  every  combat.  Personal¬ 
ly  they  are  brave  and  of  great  courage.  On  the 
smallest  provocation  they  devoted  themselves  to  death, 
and  having  done  so,  one  would  hold  his  ground  against 
a  hundred.  2 

We  gather  from  Varthema  himself  that  this  mode 
of  warfare  was  soon  giving  way  before  an  enemy  of  a 
different  type  from  their  own  class  of  men.  For,  speak¬ 
ing  of  the  fighting  at  Cannanore,  at  which  Varthema 
himself  was  present,  he  observes:  “Their  fighting  was 
in  this  wise:  two  or  three  thousand  men  come  on  at  a 
time  and  bringing  with  them  the  sounds  of  diverse 
instruments,  and  with  fireworks  (apparently  hand 
grenades,  rockets  ,etc.),  and  they  ran  with  such  fury 
that  truly  they  would  have  inspired  with  fear  ten 
thousand  men.”3 

Mr.  Whiteaway  in  his  work  on  the  Rise  of  the  Portu¬ 
guese  Power  in  India ,  gives  us  the  following  account  of 
the  weapons  of  the  Nsyars  and  their  methods  of  warfare: 

“In  arms  and  methods  of  warfare  the  Hindu  of 
the  extreme  south,  where  the  Mahomedans  had  not  yet 
penetrated,  is  behind  his  contemporary  in  Europe.  *  *  * 
Chiefly,  perhaps,  because  they  had  then  met  no  serious 
enemy,  and  had  only  fought  their  own  caste-fellows  and 
co-religionists,  war  had  become  with  them  a  game  gov¬ 
erned  by  a  series  of  elaborate  rules,  and  to  break  one 

1.  Tohfut-ul-Mujahideen,  p. 62. 

2.  Primitive  Folk,  p.  146. 

3.  P,  281. 


N.  37.]  IGNORANCE  OF  BELEAGUERING  399 

of  these  rules  involved  dishonour,  which  was  worse 
than  death.1  Their  arms  were  lances,  swords,  and 
shields,  and  much  taste  was  displayed  iu  lacquering  and 
polishing,  till  neither  sun  nor  rain  affected  them,  and 
they  glittered  ‘like  a  looking  glass’.  The  swords  were  of 
iron  and  not  steel,  some  curved,  some  short  and  round, 
the  point  was  never  used:  from  the  handle  about  |  of 
the  length  was  strengthened  by  an  extra  backing  of  iron; 
there  were  no  hand  guards,  only  a  small  piece  of  ela¬ 
borately  moulded  iron  that  hardly  covered  the 
fingers;  the  iron  work  carried  numerous  little  brass 
rings  that  rattled  in  sword  play.  For  armour  they 
wore  coats  wadded  with  cotton,  that  came  to  the  elbow 
and  mid  thigh;  on  the  sword  arm  there  was  a  gauntlet 
of  similar  material.  On  their  heads  they  wore  caps, 
also  wadded  with  cotton,  with  flaps  that  covered  nearly 
the  whole  face  and  neck.” 

“There  was  neither  night  fighting  nor  ambuscades. 
All  fighting  was  in  the  day  time  when  the  sun  had  well 
risen;  the  opposing  camps  were  pitched  near  each 
other,  and  both  sides  slept  securely.  At  sunrise,  the 
soldiers  of  both  armies  mingled  at  the  tank,  put  on 
their  armour,  ate  their  rice  and  chewed  their  betal, 
gossiped,  and  chatted  together.  At  beat  of  drum,  either 
side  drew  apart  and  formed  its  ranks.  It  was  credit¬ 
able  to  be  the  first  to  beat  the  drum,  but  no  attack  was 
allowed  until  the  other  side  had  beaten  theirs.  The 
armies  were  formed  inclose  columns.  In  the  front  were 
the  swordsmen  who,  with  their  shields  touching  each 
other  and  the  ground,  advanced  stooping  low,  at  a  very 
slow  pace.  Behind  the  swordsmen  were  archers,  who 
fired  along  the  ground  to  hit  the  enemy  in  the  feet; 
with  these  archers  were  others  who  threw,  also,  along 
the  ground,  either  clubs  of  heavy  blackwood  or  circles  of 
iron  with  sharp  edges  like  quoits;  where  these  weapons 
touched  a  bone  they  broke  it,  or  at  least  knocked  a  man 
over  and  made  a  gap  in  the  ranks;  in  the  rear  of  all 

1.  See  Correa  I.  354  HI  37*  and  765;  Varthema,  p.  150;  also 
Jordanus  20. 


400  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20* 

were  the  lancemen  with  lances  and  javelins.  The  fight¬ 
ing  was  always  in  the  open  plain  and  they  advance— all 
stooping — very  slow,  now  gaining  ground,  now  losing, 
so  that  sometimes  a  whole  day  was  spent  in  advances 
and  retreats.  When  the  drum  beat  both  sides  rose  to 
their  feet  and  fought  no  more  that  day.  The  drum  could 
only  be  beaten  when  both  side$  were  halted,  and  it  was 
a  point  of  honour  not  to  beat  it  unless  some  advantage 
could  be  claimed.  All  the  strategy  was  directed  to 
capturing  and  defending  the  camp,  and  scribes  were  in 
attendance  to  write  down  the  different  turns  of  the 
battle.  At  times,  when  the  ranks  on  one  side  broke, 
the  slaughter  was  very  great,  but  after  the  drum  sounded 
the  two  sides  mingled  together,  and  there  was  no  bad 
blood,  even  when  a  man  killed  his  own  brother.  In 
certain  cases,  when  a  relative  died  or  a  vassal  rebelled, 
the  leader  of  the  side  that  desired  a  suspension  of  hosti¬ 
lities,  after  the  ranks  were  formed,  advanced^  stuck  his 
javelin  in  the  ground,  leant  his  sword  and  shield  against 
it,  and  stood  apart;  the  leader  on  the  other  side  imi¬ 
tated  him  and  a  truce  ensued.  This  artificial  system 
broke  down  very  quickly  under  the  stress  of  fighting 
against  the  Portuguese.  Thus  it  had  always  been 
the  custom  for  the  Zamori  to  sound  a 
trumpet  that  it  took  4  men  to  lift  to  warn 
his  enemy  in  the  morning  of  an  intended  attack.  In 
1536  he  nearly  surprised  the  Portuguese  by  abandon¬ 
ing  the  custom  suddenly.1  *  *  It  was  a  maxim  with  the 
Portuguese  that  footmen  did  not  count,  their  only 
defensive  weapon  was  a  shield  and  the  bowmen  had  not 
even  that.2  None  of  the  battles,  however,  described  by 
the  Portuguese  historians — and  they  are  numerous  and 
told  in  great  detail — sound  much  more  than  magnified 
street  brawls.  The  interest  of  this  descriotion  of  the 
methods  of  fighting  in  Southern  India,  transmitted  to 
us  by  the  Portuguese  writers,  is  enhanced  by  the  evi¬ 
dence  it  affords  that  these  methods  were  introduced 

1.  Castenheda  VIII,  144 

2.  Castenheda  11,  if. 


IGNORANCE  OF  BELEAGUERING 


401 


N.  37.] 

from  Northern  India  by  the  Brahmans,  to  mitigate  the 
ferocity  of  the  races  whom  they  converted  to  the  Hindu 
religion.  The  earliest  form  in  which  they  are  found  is 
in  the  six  rules  agreed  to  by  both  sides  in  the  great  war 
of  Bharata,  celebrated  in  the  Mahabhavata ,  which  em¬ 
body  some  of  the  most  artificial  of  the  customs.  It 
may  be,  as  some  have  said,1  that  these  six  rules  were 
introduced  into  the  poem  by  Brahmanical  writers,  at  a 
later  period,  to  give  them  an  historical  sanction  in  the 
eyes  of  subsequent  generations;  but  the  same  could 
hardly  be  said  of  their  inclusion  in  the  laws  of  Manu, 
where  they  are  also  found  2.  But  whether  this  view  be 
correct,  that  is,  whether  they  actually  governed  the 
fight  on  the  plain  of  Kurukshetra  or  not  is  of  little  im¬ 
portance;  the  great  fact  is  the  proof  that  these  passages 
in  the  Portuguese  writers  give,  that  the  Brahman 
carried  with  him  in  his  civilizing:  advance  over  India 
such  influence  that  he  ctould  impose  his  humanizing 
rules  on  the  savage  races  over  which  he  established  his 
yoke;  rules,  too,  which,  although  they  have  left  their 
traces  to  the  present  day  in  the  chivalrous  tone  of  some 
Hindu  races,  notably  the  Rajputs,  laid  those  adopting 
them  Open  to  the  attacks  of  outsiders,  who  could  reap 
every  advantage  from  the  artificial  system  that  bound 
their  adversaries  *  *  *  *”•  3 

“It  was  a  point  of  honour  with  the  latter  (/.  «?.,  the 
Zamorin)  never  to  change  the  direction  of  his  march 
when  once  that  had  been  finally  settled.  During 
Pachecco’s  defence  of  Cochin  against  the  hordes  of  the 
Zamorin,  a  night  attack  was  planned  (by  the  Zamorin) 
on  the  advice  of  the  Italians,  but  it  was  contrary  to  the 
genius  of  the  Nairs,  and  of  the  Zamorin’s  force  one  half 
furiously  attacked  the  other  half  in  the  darkness  of  the 
night.4” 

1.  Talboys  Wheeler’s  History  of  India ,  Vol.  r,  page  283. 

2.  See  Dr:  Oppert's  Sukarneethi ,  Madras  Journal  of 
Literature  and  Science. 

3.  Pages  33  to  37* 

4.  Whiteaway,  p.  98. 

AY 


402 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  20. 


It  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  make  mention 
of  the  war  songs  and  the  martial  music  of  the  Nsyars. 
Varthema  has  told  us  that  they  marched  to  the  strain 
of  “diverse  instruments/’  that,  when  the  King  goes  to 
battle,  he  either  rides  on  an  elephant  or  is  carried  by 
the  Nayars  who  always  run,  “and  many  instruments 
sounding  always  accompany  the  said  King.” 
He  also- tells  us  that  in  battle  “it  had  always  been  the 
custom  of  the  Zamori  to  sound  a  trumpet  that  it  took 
4  men  to  carry  to  warn  his  enemy  in  the  morning  of  an 
intended  attack.”  '‘Their  warlike  instruments  were 
many  and  of  divers  sorts,”  says  Castenhedar  “and  made 
a  noise  as  if  heaven  and  earth  were  coming  together.” 

From  Fra  Bartolomeo  we  learn  that  the  instruments 
which  they  used  with  their  vocal  music  consisted  of 
the  large  drum  known  as  Perumpara\  the  small  drum, 
Tudi\  two  clarinets,  Ruzkel\  a  kettle  drum  beaten  upon 
with  pieces  of  iron;  two  copper  or  brass  basons,  and 
a  couple  of  cow’s  horns.  “During  the  song,”  says 
Bartolomeo,  “they  frequently  clap  their  hands;  often 
change  their  tone  and  voice,  according  as  the  circum¬ 
stance  may  require;  sing  sometimes  in  piano  and  some¬ 
times  forte ;  and  either  let  the  tone  issue  through  the 
nose  or  force  it  out  between  their  teeth  with  the  greatest 
violence  and  by  quick  and  repeated  clapping  with  the 
tongue.  All  this  gives  it  the  character  of  a  Bacchanalian 
and  warlike  music,  which  imitates  the  noise  made  by 
people  who  are  engaged  in  battle”. 1 

There  is  no  means  at  present  of  knowing  what  war 
songs  were  used  by  the  Nsyars  during,  and  before,  the 
Portuguese  period,  as  unfortunately  no  record  of  them 
exist.  It  is  probable  that  the  ballads  relating  to  the 
deeds  of  Tachcholi  Meppayil  Kunhi  Othenan,  the  mythi¬ 
cal  feats  of  Vaikeleri  Kunni  Kelappan,  and  others 
known  as  Tachcholipat,  were  very  popular.  One  can¬ 
not,  however,  say  that  these  were  sung  on  the  march, 
for  their  strains  seem  to  be  more  languishing  than 
martial-.  But  it  is  certain  that  they  were  very  popular 

(1)  Page  370. 

(2)  Rao  Sahib  Kavitilakan  Ullur  S.  Parameswara  Ayyar. 


N.  37-1 


IGNORANCE  OF  BELEAGUERING 


403 


as  ballads  describing  the  exploits  of  heroes  whose 
memory  the  people  loved  to  perpetuate.  Such 
ballads  used  to  be  composed  till  recently.  There 
is  one  commemorating  the  deeds  of  the  Palassi 
Raja  and  his  rebellion  against  the  English,  (1797 
to  1805  A.  D.),  another  about  Tippu  Sultan  and 
so  on.  As  a  specimen  of  these  ballads  the  following 
few  lines  from  the  original  Tachcholipat  together  with 
a  translation  of  the  whole  poem,  as  given  by  Mr.  Logan, 
may  be  quoted.1 

“Otayottidattile  Kandasseri 
Lokanar  Kavil  Kavuttanay 
Kavur  vafinum  pulannu  vello 
Nammais  Kavilum  pova  venam 
Tachcholi  Meppayil  Kunni  Otenan 
Tane  chamayam  chamayavun}  chaitu 
Tanffe  idattetum  Valattetumayi 
Munnile  pokuAAa  Kandasseri 
Valiye  mathakksran  Kunni  Otenan 
Iruvarum  Kutiyallo  porunnata.” 

“To  his  squire  Odayottidattil  Kandasseri  (Chappan) 
Said  Tachcholi  Meppayil  Kunhi  Odenan, 

“For  the  Lokanar  Kavil  Kavut, 

“Which  day  of  ceremony  has  come  and  dawned, 
“We  to  that  temple  must  go”. 

Tachcholi  Meppayil  Kunhi  Odenan 

M.  A.,  B.  L.,  has  published  as  No.  5  of  the  Sri  Mulom  Malayala 
Bhasha  Grandhavali  (Travancore  Government  Press)  a  work  called 
Paicppattu  (war-song).  It  seems  that  a  part  of  the  transcription 
of  its  mss.  was  completed  on  some  day  in  the  December  of  1746 
(23-4-922  M.  E.)  It  is  a  Kilippattu.  ‘The  poet  refers  to  the  fact 
that  a  number  of  war-songs  were  current  in  his  day.  The  poem 
opens  with  a  description  of  the  several  branches  into  which  the 
ruling  family  of  Cochin  was  divided  in  the  17th  century,  the 
adoptions  made  from  those  branches,  and  the  intornecine  struggles 
to  which  such  adoptions  led  and  the  consequent  troubles  to  which 
the  ruling  family  became  a  prey’.  It  details  the  Cochin-Calicut 
wars.  It  is  very  doubtful  whether  these  songs  or  the  Vadakkan 
pattukal  (Ballads  of  the  North)  were  ever  used  as  martial 
music-  Ed, 

2.  Pages  96  to  10/. 


404 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

His  apparel  he  put  on 

His  sword  and  shield  he  took  in  his  right  and 

left, 

In  front  walked  Kandasseri, 

In  the  rear  the  nobleman  Kunhi  Odenan, 

Together  proceeded  in  company. 

Said  dear  Kunhi  Odenan 

To  his  wife  Ksvile  Chsthoth  Kunhi  Chlru, 

“Till  I  go  and  come 

“Don’t  you  go  down  the  gate  steps; 

“Do  caress  child  Ambsdi; 

“Give  him  milk  when  thirsty 
“And  rice  when  hungry55. 

So  Tachcholi  Meppayil  Kunhi  Odenan 
Took  leave  of  Kovile  Chjthoth. 

Odayottidattil  Kandasseri 

Took  a  lance  made  of  the  first-rate  cocoanut 

tree; 

Armed  with  it, 

They  proceeded  together; 

Walked  (the  whole  distance)  in  one  march. 

On  arriving  at  the  Lokanar  Kavu 

It  appeared  as  if  it  had  been  fenced  with  men  on 

all  four  sides. 

All  the  Ten  Thousand  Nayars  had  assembled; 

Also  the  Princes  of  the  Four  Palaces, 

The  reigning  Raja  of  Kadattansd, 

The  heir  apparent  of  Purameri, 

And  the  Raja  of  Kuttipuram, 

Had  put  in  their’ royal  presence. 

Tachcholi  Meppayil  Kunhi  Odenan 
Went  and  ascended  the  entrance  steps, 

Walked  straight  up  to  the  Tachcholi’ s  seat — 

The  platform  under  the  Banian  tree— 

Where  the  good  fellow  sat,  and  amused  himself, 

Gazing  at  the  comers  and 

Looking  all  round  about  the  temple. 

While  thus  sitting, 

The  MathilGr  Kurikkal  with  his  disciples— 


37.]  IGNORANCE  OF  BELEAGUERING 

The  two  and  twenty  youngsters — 

Arrived  at  the  Lokanar  Kavu, 

Went  to  the  Goddess’  divine  presence, 

Most  devoutly  worshipped  with  clasped  hands, 
And,  after  worshipping,  left  the  temple 
To  occupy  a  seat  on  the  Tachchoii’s  platform, 
On  the  south  part  of  which  they  went  and  sat. 
This  with  his  own  eyes  Kunhi  Odenan  saw, 
And  he  thus  exclaimed: 

“Lo  !  Odayottidattil  Kandasseri  ! 

“What  (a)  strange  (thing  is)  ail  this  ! 

“On  the  platform  under  our  Banian  tree 
“What  Nayar  cometh  to  take  a  seat  ? 

“Make  haste  and  see  who  he  is” 

Thus  said  Meppayil  Tachcholi  Kunhi  Odenan 

A  very  jealous  Odenan — 

“What  Nayar  art  thou 
“That  went  to  the  Banian  tree?” 

Odenan  seeing  this  with  his  own  eyes 
Rolled  his  jet  black  eyes  in  burning  rage, 
Shook  his  legs  in  excitement, 

Clenched  his  fists  in  anger, 

And  spoke  thus:  “Odayottidattil  Kandasseri 

“Go  home  quick,  and  get 
“My  silver-handled  gun; 

“In  our  western  chamber  it  stands 

“Full  loaded  with  two  bullets  and  two  plugs. 

“Hasten  thou  and  come  soon. 

“One  word  more  to  you  !  Kandasseri  ! 

“The  Poratara  Peacock 

“With  its  young  brood 

“Is  perching  upon  our  Banian  tree. 

“I’ll  shoot  them  dead  one  by  one” 

This  one  word  was  said. 

At  once  Kurikkal  said, 

“Hark  !  My  beloved  youths  1 
“We  must  start  at  once; 

“We  must  go  to  our  Poratara”. 

So  the  Mathilur  Kurikkal  and  pupils 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [Li  2o. 

Proceeded  back  with  their  heads  covered  and 

hung  down  in  disgrace. 

Again  said  the  Kurikkal, 

“We  should  not  wait  to  see  the  Kavut”. 

Thus  the  Kurikkal  left  at  once 
With  his  two  and  twenty  pupils. 

When  descending  the  steps, 

The  Kurikkal  shouted  loud  and  challenged  : — 
“My  good  fellow,  Tachcholi  Kunhi  Odena  ! 

“If  the  tenth  and  eleventh  of  Kumbham  shall  * 

come, 

“If  God  will  spare  my  life, 

“I  pledge  my  word  to  be  at  Ponniyat. 

“There  under  the  Banian  tree 

“In  single  combat  could  we  test  our  supremacy. 

“That  day  let  us  meet  again  V 5 

Thus  the  Kurikkal  declared  the  war, 

In  the  midst  of  the  Ten  Thousand, 

And  proceeded  back  on  his  way. 

The  sight-seers  trembled 

At  this  throwing,  down  and  taking  up  the 

gauntlet. 

,A  stillness  prevailed  like  that  after  a  heavy  rain, 

A  panic  spread 
Over  all  assembled. 

Tachcholi  Koma  Kurup  (elder  brother  of  Odenan), 
On  this  very  news  coming  into  his  ears, 

Beat  his  breast  and  exclaimed  in  tears  : — 

“Alas  !  You  saucy  fellow  ! 

“Is  it  at  a  mountain  that  you  are  throwing  a  pot  ? 
“On  Thursday  in  Kumbham  next 
“You  have  agreed  to  enter  the  lists.’ 1 
The  Kurup  hastened  on  to  interpose: 

The  Kurikkal,  on  his  way  from  the  temple, 

Is  accosted  by  the  Kurup, 

Whom  the  Lord  Kurikkal  treats  with  contempt, 
Spits  on  his  face  with  betel  juice, 

And  says  to  the  Kurup: 

“Get  thee  gone  !  What  (an)  unmanly  thing  ! 


IGNORANCE  OF  BELEAGUERING 


407 


L.  37] 

“What  meanest  thou  by  untimely  interposition  ? 

“If  God  spares  me 

“I  will  make  him  atone  for  it**. 

Thus  saying  the*Kurikkal  went  his  way  to 

Poratara 

Tachcholi  Koma  Kurup 

Went  however  to  the  LokanSr  Kavu 

He  was  met  by  his  brother, 

Who  was  returning  having  seen  the  Ksvut 
They  walked  home  straight 
On  their  way  the  Kurup  wept, 

Beating  his  breast,  shedding  bloody  tears, 

And  thus  addressed  his  brother  : — 

“My  beloved  brother  !  how  impudent  you  are  ! 
“You  have  engaged  to  fight  on  the  ioth  and  nth 

Kumbham! 

“What  do  you  think  of  doing  next?” 

Immediately  replied  Kunhi  Odenan, 

“Brother!  Why  do  you  weep* 

“Am  I  not  a  man  like  himself  ? 

;  “Is  it  enough  always  to  give  ? 

“Can’t  I  receive  it  once  ? 

“Let  it  happen  as  fate  wills  it  ! 

“Why  cry  for  it  !!’' 

“Hear  me,”  said  the  Kurup, 

“In  whose  charge  do  you  leave  me  ? 

“Am  I  not  in  my  dotage  ? 

“If  fate  should  call  me  away  any  moment, 

“To  perform  the  funeral  rites 
“No  male  exists  in  our  family.” 

Thus  saying  they  were  going 
The  Kurup  further  observed  ; 

“My  dear  brother  Odena  ! 

“Your  nice  little  face  of  ripe  areca-nut  color 
“How  came  it  to  be  changed  into  a  new  pot’s 

color?” 

By  this  time  they  reached  the  Tachcholi  Meppayil 

house 

Their  sister  Tachcholi  Unnichira 


408  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  20. 

Seeing  them  come* 

Brought  a  gindy  pot  of  water  (to  wash  hands  and 

feet  with) 

And  asked  her  dear  brother  to  partake  of  Kanji; 
But  Kunhi  Odenan  said  he  must  bathe 
So  he  bathed,  dined,  and  spent  that  day  there. 

The  next  morning  dawned, 

And  the  Koma  Kurup  said: — 

“Brother  Tachcholi  Meppayil  Kunhi  Odenan  ! 
“The  fatal  10th  and  nth  of  Kumbham 
“Are  drawing  closer  and  closer. 

“On  Thursday  week,  in  Kumbham  next, 

“At  Ponniyat  Banian  tree,  you  must 
“Go  to  fight  the  duel. 

“Your  friends  in  all 
“You  must  go  and  call — 

“Kottakal  Ahamad  MarakkSr, 

“Vadakkara  Pidigayil  Kunhi  Pokkar — 

“To  them  you  must  go,  and  tell  particularly 
“That  they  should  accompany  you  personally. 
“Again,  Etacheri  Odenan  Nambiysr 
“And  PanangStan  Chandu  Kurup 
“Must  also  be  requested 
“To  accompany  you  to  PonniySt. 

“Hear  me  again,  Kunhi  Odenan  ! 

“There  is  Payyampalli  of  Katirur  Tara, 

The  Kunhi  Chandu  of  that  house 
“You  must  also  take  along  with  you’\ 

They  were  all  accordingly  invited. 

Chandu,  on  being  asked  said  : — 

“Odgnan  !  don’t  you  go  this  year  to  PonniySt. 
“You  have  an  evil  time  of  it, 

“And  I  shall  not  come  with  you”. 

At  once  returns  Kunhi  Odenan, 

Walking  hastily  through  PonniySt  Kalam  field, 
Crossing  the  Ponniyam  and  Puttalam  rivers, 

And  passing  the  Chambst  Puncha  land, 

Arrives  at  his  Tachcholi  Meppayil  house 
Bathes  and  takes  bis  food, 


N.  37-]  IGNORANCE  OF  B  ELEAGUERING  409 

And  spends  the  day  there. 

Next  morning  he  went  to  LokanSr  KSvu; 

Bade  the  priest  to  open  the  shrine 

And  light  up  lamps  on  each  side  of  the  idol, 

And  caused  the  musicians  to  beat  tom-tom. 

The  treasure-box  was  brought  out, 

And  the  idol  in  procession  marched  out. 

At  this  juncture 

A  Nainbutiri  youth  received  divine  inspiration, 

And  pronounced  the  oracle: — 

“You  should  not  go  to  PonniySt  this  year, 

“Your  evil  star  is  in  the  ascendant; 

“I  can  do  nothing  for  you.” 

When  this  was  heard 

Odenan  prostrated  himself  before  the  Goddess 
And  prayed: — “0!  noble  Goddess! 

“When  I  go  to  Ponniyat 
“You  must  stand  on  my  right. 

“I  have  no  other  help 
“But  my  mother  Goddess”! 

The  oracle  then  gave  him  leave 
To  stay  in  the  arena  till  noon, 

And  not  to  remain  there  longer; 

And  further  assured  him 

That  if  he  looked  up  to  the  Banian  tree 

He  would  see  the  Goddess  herself  in  the  disguise 

of  a  yellow  bird. 

But  after  noon  she  would  not  be  there, 

And  therefore  he  should  not  be  there. 

Kunhi  Odgnan  then  from  his  waist  cloth  took 
Sixteen  silver  Fanams,  which  in  the  sacred  box 

he  put 

Thus  worshipping,  he  returned 

With  his  attendant  Odayottidattil  Chappan 

To  the  Tachcholi  Meppayil  house, 

And  told  his  brother  Koma  Kurup. 

All  that  the  oracle  had  said. 

A2. 


410 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  *<J. 

“Don’t  you  then  go  this  year,”  says  Koma  Kurup 
But  Odenan  replies  — 

“Should  I  die  even,,  it  matters  not; 

“I  must  go  to  Ponniyat  to-day.” 

Remonstrance  had  no  effects — 

Either  brother’s  or  others, 

“Let  us  go,”  says  Odenan  to  Kandssseri, 

“To  Kavile  Chsthoth  hpuse.” 

Thither  they  went  accordingly 
And  saw  his  wife  Chlru. 

Taking  the  child  Ambadi  in  her  arms, 

And  looking  at  the  husband  she  cried: — 

“Oh!  my  daring  husband! 

“You  have  engaged  tovfight 
‘‘At  the  Banian  tree  in  Ponniyat: 

“To  whose  care  will  you  entrust  us?  ” 

“Dear  Chlru,  ’’  says  Odenan  in  reply, 

“Am  I  going  to  die? 

“Is  not  man  equal  to  man?” 

Bathing  and  eating  he  spent  that  day  there. 

Next  day  broke; 

Kunni  Odenan  rose 

And  proposed  to  go  to  Meppayil  house 
Then  Chlru  prepared  milk  kanji, 

Which  Odenan  took  and  went  heme. 

In  taking  leave  of  his  wife,  he  told  her: 

“My  dear  Kunhi  Chlru, 

“Till  I  come  back 

‘‘Don’t  you  stir  out  of  the  house.” 

When  words  like  these  were  heard, 

Beating  her  breast,  she  cried. 

“Why  do  you  cry,  my  dear?”  said  Odenam, 

“I  am  not  going  to  die; 

“I  shall  come  very  soon.” 

Thus  saying,  he  took  leave  of  her. 

When  descending  the  gate  steps 
Her  eyes  were  full  of  tears 

Which  were  flowing  by  the  breast  in  bloody  drops. 
He  walked  straight  to  his  Tachcholi  Meppayil 

house, 


N,  37.]  IGNORANCE  OF  BELEAGUERING 


411 


Where,  in  the  west  room,  he  found 
That  his  brother  was  still  in  his  bed. 

He  sat  on  the  bed 
And  placing  his  feet  on  his  lap 
And  rubbing  them  gently 
He  waked  his  brother  from  sleep. 

“Who  is  this  at  my  feet?  ’’  asked  the  brother; 

“I  am,  I  am,  my  brother,”  was  the  answer. 

So  and  so  he  passed  that  day  there. 

The  next  day  came, 

And  the  eventful  Thursday  came. 

There  came  then  the  Kottakkal  Ahamad  Marakksr 
And  his  followers, 

Vadakara  Pldigayil  Kunhi  Pokker 
And  his  followers, 

Edacheri  Odenan  NambiySr 
And  his  followers, 

Kalleri  Kunga  Kurup 
And  his  followers, 

PanangStan  Chandu  Kurup 
And  his  followers, 

All  in  a  body  assembled 
Numbering  about  five  hundred. 

Tachcholi  JVIeppayil  Kunhi  Odenan 

Took  an  oil  bath,  and  rubbed  over  his  body 

A  mixture  of  perfume,  sandalwood  and  musk, 

And  sat  down  for  dinner. 

A  Kadali  plantain  leaf  was  spread. 

His  sister  Tachcholi  Unichira 
Served  him  the  dinner — 

Ffne  lily-white  rice, 

A  large  quantity  of  pure  ghee, 

An  eleven  kinds  of  vegetable  curries. 

He  fed  himself  sumptuously  on  all  these 
And  washed  his  hands  and  mouth  after  it.' 

He  then  sat  in  the  south  verandah. 

KandSssHri  Chsppan,  his  squire, 

Served  him  betel  to  chew. 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L: 

Chewing  and  chatting  he  sat  there  for  a  while; 
After  which  he  rose  and  opened  his  west  room, 
Where  he  stood  in  devotion  to  family  Gods, 
And  offered  them  vows  if  success  he  got, 

And  beseeched  them  to  stand  on  his  right. 

He  then  prostrated  himself  before  them, 

And  went  to  dress — a  full  dress. 

He  wore  God-of-Serpent’s  head  earing  in  ears, 
Combed  down  his  hair, 

And  wore  a  flower  of  gold  over  the  crown, 

A'  silk  cloth  round  the  loins, 

A  gold  girdle  over  it, 

Gold  rings  on  four  fingers, 

A  bracelet  worked  in  with  scenes, 

From  Rsmsyanam  and  Bhsratam 
High  up  on  his  right  arm, 

A  gold-handled  sword  in  his  right  hand 
And  a  tiger-fighting  shield  in  his  left  hand. 
When  coming  out  thus  dressed,  he  looked 
Like  melted  gold  of  ten  and  a  half  touch! 

Like  the  rising  sun  in  the  east! 

Like  the  setting  moon  in  the  west! 

He  took  leave  of  his  brother  Koma  Kurup 
By  falling  prostrate  at  his  feet, 

Who  then  blessed  him  thus — 

“May  God  help  you! 

“May  you  gain  the  victory!  ” 

Odayottidattil  Kandssseri 
Took  a  spear — a  tiger-spear — 

And  led  the  way  on; 

All  in  a  body  went  on; 

Numbering  about  five  hundred. 

They  proceeded  on  in  one  single  march 
From  KadattanSd  to  Ponniyst. 

They  halted  not  on  the  road, 

They  drank  not  when  thirsty, 

They  sat  not  to  chew  betel. 

Fatigued  as  they  were  by  the  march, 


N.  37.]  IGNORANCE  OF  BELEAGUERING 


413 


They  came  to  the  Peringalam  river. 

And  they  crossed  the  river. 

Through  the  Chambat  Punja  field, 

And  through  the  good  village  of  Chambat, 

They  made  a  rapid  march. 

They  reached  the  mango  grove 
For  tightening  girdles  above. 

From  under  the  Ponniayt  Banian  tree 
The  noise  of  the  crowd  assembled, 

The  sound  of  swords  clashing  upon  targets 

Were  heard,  and  Odenan  said 

To  his  brother  and  comrades 

That  Kurikkal  and  his  party  had  taken  the  field. 

Odenan,  from  his  waist  cloth, 

Took  sixteen  silver  Fanams, 

And,  presenting  the  same 
To  Kottakkal  Ahamad  Marakkar, 

Prostrated  himself  at  his  feet. 

In  the  name  of  Allah  he  blessed  him: 

“The  plot  you  stand  in,’’  said  he 
To  Odenan,  “shall  be  the  Kalari — 

“The  seat  of  the  God  of  war.'’ 

In  like  manner  did  he  receive  blessings 
Of  Kallgri  Kunga  Eurup  and 
Of  his  brother  Koma  Kurup. 

With  the  latter’s  permission, 

Odenan  tied  his  girdle 
One  end  to  a  mango  tree 
The  other  to  his  loins. 

In  one  pull  the  tree’s  leaves  came  down, 

A  second  pull  brought  down  the  branches. 

Then  took  he  in  his  right  and  left 
The  sword  and  shield. 

And  ran  off,  crossing  the  new  river, 

To  the  Ponniyat  Banian  tree, 

Where,  in  formidable  array,  people  stood; 

But  to  Odenan  and  his  party  they  gave  open  way. 
On  his  glaring  at  them 


4  14 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.  20. 

The  Mathilur  Kurikkal  and  pupils  were  startled. 
Leaving  his  waist  dagger  behind, 

Odenan  jumped  into  the  arena 
Like  a  cock  running  to  fight 
And  combat  ensued. 

It  was  then  about  noon. 

Odenan  took  his  enemy’s  sword  seven  times. 

On  looking  up  to  the  tree  at  these  times 
He  saw  the  yellow  bird — 

The  Lokanar  Kavu  Goddess. 

On  looking  up  again, 

It  was  in  vain 

And  Odenan  retired  from  the  arena  instantly, 

And  marched  home  triumphantly. 

But,  as  ill  fate  would  have  it, 

When  Ponniyam  new  river  was  arrived  at 
He  found  his  dagger  had  been  lost. 

At  once  sayeth  he — 

“Hark!  my  brother! 

“I  left  my  dagger  in  the  arena 
“And  I  forgot  to  take  it. 

**What  shall  I  do  now?” 

“If  that  is  lost,”  replies  the  brother, 

“I  shall  give  you  another  like  it,” 

“It’s  all  true,  my  brother, 

“But  go  and  take  my  dagger  I  must.” 

The  brother’s  remonstrance  had  no  effect. 

Odenan  ran  back  to  the  arena; 

The  Kurikkal  seeing  this  said 
To  Chundanga  poylil  Mayan  Pakki — 

“The  Tachcholi,  who  went  away,  is  coming  again; 
“Now  he  will  not  allow  us  to  survive.” 

Hearing  words  to  this  effect, 

Pakki  took  up  his  gun,  and 
Loaded  it  with  two  shots, 

And  concealed  himself  behind  a  tree. 

At  OdSnan  coming  near, 

The  Mappilla,  taking  good  aim,  shot 


N.  37.]  IGNORANCE  OF  BELEAGUERING  415 

At  Octenan’s  forehead. 

He  fell  down  on  his  knees, 

But  would  not  let  his  mean  enemy  escape. 

He  threw  his  sword  at  him, 

Which  cut  not  only  the  tree 
But  Pakki  himself  into  two. 

Tearing  off  his  silk  turband, 

Odenan  dressed  his  wound  on  the  forehead. 

The  Kurup,  his  brother,  seeing  this 
Burst  into  tears. 

But  Odenan  remained  bold  and  said — 

“Brother?  don’t  you  show  your  weekness 
“In  the  midst  of  these  thousands  of  men. 

“How  simple  you  are  ! 

“Has  anybody  as  yet  died 
“prom  arrows  on  the  neck  ? 

“Or  from  bullets  on  the  forehead  ? 

They  then  began  retreat 
Through  the  Chambat  field 

And  reached  home — MSppayil  in  Kadattansd — 

that  day.” 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  ballard  illustrates 
many  of  the  peculiarities  of  Malayalee  life. 

Of  the  war  songs  in  use  in  his  time  Bartolomeo 
says,  “They  contain  panegyrics  on  the  first  Indian 
warriors  and  heroes,  on  the  love  of  one’s  own  country, 
on  the  virtues  of  the  people  and  the  happy  condition  of 
India  during  remotest  periods;  all  objects  which  give 
full  scope  to  the  imagination,  and  animate  the  soul  with 
a  desire  of  achieving  splendid  actions.”  He  gives 
some  specimens  of  the  “War  song  in  the  Malabar 
language.”  One  or  two  of  these  may  be  sub- joined 
“Asurer  aver  adhika  Sathar  avani  pati  vlrerai 
Atyanfa  du§tarai  ulbhavichchltinsr 
Avani  bhara — makaluvajin-averkale  ofukkuvsn 
Adi  cloven  mudrttan  oru  yUcJhanam.” 

“The  giants,  a  horrid  race,  endowed  with  irresis¬ 
tible  strength,  immediately  after  their  birth,  because 


416  Letters  from  malabar  [l.  20. 

exceedingly  arrogant,  and  exercised  the  most  detestable 
violence.  They  made  themselves  masters  of  the  globe; 
and  the  earth  groaned  under  their  insupportable  bur¬ 
den.  To  combat  and  extirpate  them  a  god  appeared. 
It  was  the  supreme  God,  the  God  Krishna  who  took 
the  field  against  them.” 

“This  poem”  says  Bartolomeo  ‘‘has  great  beauties; 
the  versification  is  smooth,  easy  harmonious  and  lively; 
and  expresses,  as  it  were,  the  march  of  an  army.  The 
first  verse,  in  each  strophe,  consists  of  eighteen  sylla¬ 
bles  or  feet  which  are  called  Pada .  •  The  second  worse 
has  always  twelve  such  Pada .  The  melody  to  this  song 
is  rather  quick  than  slow;  and  holds  a  medium  between 
the  alt  and  bass.  The  tone  always  lies  on  the  first 
syllable  of  the  three  or  four  first  words  with  which  the 
verse  begins;  and,  altogether  contrary  to  the  European 
manner,  never  on  the  final  words.  In  the  Samscred 
song,  which  occurs  hereafter,  each  verse  consists  of 
fifteen  Pada .  There  are,  however,  other  kinds  of  verse, 
the  quantity  of  which  is  sometimes  longer.  For 
example: 

Aghila  sastra  cirtram  parama  gnana  mitram 

Agghana  gunna  matram  carunam  purna  patram 

The  first  of  these  two  verses  contains  fifteen,  and 
the  other  only  fourteen  syllables.  The  metre  is  called 
Parra  and  not  Porb ,  as  Anquetil  du  Perron  asserts. 
It  serves  as  a  proof  that  our  so  called  Leonine  verses, 
which  rhyme  in  the  middle  and  at  the  end,  are  not  un* 
known  to  the  Indians.  Their  public  songs  are  always 
sung  with  an  instrumental  accompaniment.  Their 
singing  voices,  of  which  they  reckon  six,  have  very 
singular  names  and  are  as  follows: — 

1.  Shlagia,  the  peacock  voice 

2.  Nishada,  The  elephant  voice 

3  Irshubha,  the  ox  voice 

4.  Saudhara,  the  sheep’s  voice 
4  5.  Madhyama,  A  voice  of  certain  bird  called 

Anilapakshi. 


N.  3SJ 


NO  MATERIALS  FOR  CANNONADING 


411 


6.  Dhevivada,  the  horse  voice •’’1 


38.  No  materials  for  cannonading.  The  Zamo- 

rin’s  seiges  of  the  Portuguese  forts  of  Calicut  and 
Chsliat  described  by  Sheik  Zeen-ud-deen  as  well  by 
the  Portuguese  historians  make  it  clear  that  the  Mala- 
yalees  were  not  altogether  ignorant  of  the  science  of 
beleaguering.  The  attack  on  the  Portuguese  Fort  of 
Quilon  is  also  an  instance  in  point.  It  is  also  not 
quite  correct  to  say  that  they  had  no  materials  for 
cannonading.  Before  the  arrival  of  the  Portuguese, 
they  were  ignorant  of  the  use  of  fire  arms; 
but  we  have  found  that  the  two  Milanese  deserters 
supplied  the  Zamorin  with  cannon  and  large  pieces  of 
artillery.  Rockets  and  hand  grenades  were  also  not 
unknown,  for  we  read  of  armies  marching  to  the  attack 
with  letting  of  fireworks  in  front  of  them.  Baldeus 
informs  us  that,  when  the  Dutch  beseiged  the  city  of 
Coulang(Quilon)  in  1661,  they  were  met  by  7,000  or 
8,000  NSvars  of  Malabar  who  were  well  acquainted  with 
the  use  of  bows,  and  arrows  and  muskets  and  great 
cannon.  He  further  tells  us  that  “they  make  their  own 
gun-barrels,  gunpowder,  and  matches.”  In  the  wars 
with  the  Portuguese,  the  Zamorin  seems  to  have  brought 
into  the  field  a  large  number  of  brass  guns. 


1  Bartolomeo,  pages  365  to  369. 

(1)  Shadja — the  fourth  note  (according  to  some,  the  first), 
so  called  as  it  is  derived  from  the  six  organs,  (cnooroao 
6gp^(Ocr^oej  sflnDjoo  «oo>o^5u  cvuocmoocil>). 


(2)  Nishadah — the  first  note  (properly  the  seventh). 

(3)  Rishabhah — the  second  of  the  seven  primary  notes  oi 
the  Indian  gamut  (said  to  be  uttered  by  cows). 

(4)  .Gandharah — the  third  note. 

(5)  Madhyamah — the  fifth  note. 

(6)  Dhaivatah — the  sixth  note. 

(7)  Panchamah— the  f if th-(0r  in  liter  times  the  seventh)- 
note,  said  to  be  produced  by  the  cuckoo.  It  is  so  called 
because  it  is  produced  from  five  parts  of  the  body,  (aia 

acya&c&sg u  aiVajoai  aj*oj 

acruaocn  nfcjo n^jo  fusiau 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  so* 


118 

39.  Entice  our  men.  European  deserters  were 
often  employed  by  Malabar  Raps  to  instruct  their 
armies  in  the  western  system  of  fighting.  We  have  seen 
the  use  made  by  the  Zamorin  or  the  Milanese  deserters 
from  the  Portuguese.  Later,  Travancore  maintained  a 
considerable  army,  partly  trained  by  Dutch  deserters  of 
whom  Lanoy  and  Duyvenschot  are  specially  mentioned 
by  Moens  as  the  most  important.  Fra  Bartolomeo 
mentions  M.  Donaudi,  a  native  cf  Turin,  as  a  Captain 
in  the  Raja’s  service  in  1787.  The  Dutch  Commandeur 
Gollenesse’s  administration  regarded  the  reported 
appointment  of  Duyvenschot  to  command  the  King  of 
Travancore’s  forces  as  a  most  serious  danger,  and  an 
attempt  by  Travancore  to  storm  Quilon  in  July  1742 
was  attributed  to  his  influence.  Lanoy  was  afterwards 
appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of  Marthanda  Varma’s 
disciplined  forces,  and  he  served  him  and  his  successor 
for  37  years,  and  fortified  the  frontiers  of  the  State.1 

40.  Not  much  bloodshed.  In  addition  to  the 
reasons  mentioned  by  our  author  for  Malabar  wars 
being  less  productive  of  bloodshed,  it  may  be  remem¬ 
bered  that  fire-arms  were  not  of  constant  use  and  that 
the  peculiar  rules  of  war,  which  were  accepted  as  bind¬ 
ing  on  the  parties  and  which  have  been  already  referred 
to,  were  calculated  to  diminish  the  death-roll.  In  the 
wars  with  the  Portuguese,  we  often  read  in  their  histo¬ 
ries  of  huge  armies  being  polLhed  off  in  little  or  no 
time  ;  and  yet  the  fighting  on  either  sice  is  described  as 
fierce.  Mr.  White  way  tells  us  that  “None  of  the 
battles,  however,  described  by  the  Portuguese  histo¬ 
rians — and  they  are  numerous  and  told  in  great  detail — 
sound  much  more  than  magnified  street  brawls”.* 

41.  Places  unprotected.  Till  the  foundations 
of  Malabar  society,  political  and  social,  broke  up,  there 
was  no  use  of  having  walled  towns  and  fortified  villages. 
The  several  chiefs  had  their  territories  sharply  marked 

1,  The  Dutch  in  Malabar,  Introduction,  page  2$. 

2*  Page  36. 


N-  4*.l 


PAY  PINE 


419 

out  and  were  content  to  abide  within  those  limits  and 
pass  the  even  tenor  of  their  lives  in  peace  and  plenty. 
But,  as  time  passed  pon,  the  avarice  of  man  got  the 
better  part  of  his  nature,  and  the  result  was  greed  of 
power,  landgrabbing,  earth  hunger,  internecine  wars 
and  aggrandisement  by  the  powerful  chiefs  on  the  terri¬ 
tories  of  their  powerless  neighbours.  From  the  Arab 
traveller,  I  bn  Batuta,  we  learn  that  the  boundaries  of 
the  several  chiefs  were  religiously  respected  and  that 
even  criminals  found  safety  when  flying  from  justice. 
Batuta  observes,  “In  the  country  of  Malabar  are  1 2 
kings ;  *  *.  That  which  separates  the  district  of  one 
king  from  that  of  another  is  a  wooden  gate  upon  which 
is  written,  ‘The  gate  of  safety  of  such  a  one’.  For  when 
any  criminal  escapes  from  the  district  of  one  king,  and 
gets  safety  into  that  of  another  he  is  quite  safe;  so  that 
no  one  has  the  least  desire  to  take  him,  so  long  as  he 
remains  there”.  The  translator  of  Ibn  finds  a  parallel 
to  this  in  the  custom  which  obtained  among  the  early 
Israelites,  by  which  the  man  who  happened  to  acci¬ 
dently  kill  another  saved  his  life  by  escaping  to  one  of 
the  cities  of  refuge,  and  remaining  there  until  the  death 
of  the  high  priest 1 

42.  Pay  fine  for  the  slain.  By  the  time  our 
author  wrote,  matters  must  have  considerably  improved 
in  Malabar  regarding  the  idea  of  revenge  entertained 
by  the  Malayalees  when  any  of  their  Rajas  happened  to 
be  killed  by  the  enemy*  we  have  already  seen  that  the 
followers  of  the  Raja  were  obliged  to  take  as  many 
lives  of  the  enemy  as  possible,  and  for  this  purpose 
they  risk  their  own.  A  somewhat  similar  custom  is 
mentioned  by  the  Arab  chronicler,  Zeen-ud-deen  Mukh* 
dom,  who  had  exceptional  opportunities  of  observing 
facts  and  who  visited  Malabar  about  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  “Should  the  Ray,  or  chieftain  of  any 
tribe  of  them  be  slain  in  battle,  his  troops  contm  .e  a 

Jl.  Lees’  Travels,  ..age  167. 


420  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  ao. 

war  of  extermination  against  those  who  were  the  occa¬ 
sion  of  his  death,  attacking  them  and  their  cities,  until 
they  have  succeeded  in  annihilating  the  one  and  laid 
desolate  the  other.  From  this  cause,  therefore  it  hap¬ 
pens,  that  their  enemies  cautiously  avoid  killing  any  of 
their  Rays,  dreading  the  consequences  which  from  this 
ancient  custom  are  inevitable;  although  in  latter  days, 
less  apprehension  is  shown  by  those  opposed  to  them 
in  this  particular/’1  Those  who  had  declared  themselves 
“Amochi”  and  pledged  to  guard  the  lives7  of  the 
deceased  chiefs  had  to  see  that  they  kill  an  equal  number 
of  Princes  of  the  enemies’  family.  Latterly,  a  heavy  fine 
or  cession  of  territory  seem  to  have  come  to  be  regarded 
as  sufficient  satisfaction.  Della  Vella  tells  us  that 
‘when  two  kings  happen  to  war  together,  each  army 
takes  great  heed  not  to  kill  the  contrary  king;  nor  so 
much  as  to  strike  his  umbrella  which  is  amongst  them 
the  ensign  of  Royalty:  because,  besides  that  it  would 
be  a  great  sin  to  have  a  hand  in  Royal  blood,  the  party 
or  side  which  should  kill  or  wound  him,  would  expose 
themselves  to  great  and  irreparable  mischiefs,  in  regard 
of  the  obligation  on  the  whole  kingdom  of  the  wounded 
or  slain  king  hath  to  revenge- him  in  the  greatest  des¬ 
truction  of  their  enemies,  even  with  the  certain  loss  of 
their  lives  if  it  be  needful”.2 

43.  Boast  of  numbers.  The  Malabar  calcu¬ 
lation  of  the  number  of  Nayars  in  the  country  might  be 
a  good  deal  exaggerated.  According  to  the  Keralolpathi% 
on  the  alleged  distribution  of  Kerala  by  the  last  Peru- 
mal  to  the  various  chiefs  of  Malabar,  he  is  said  to  have 
assigned  to  Travancore  and  Kolattiri  350,000  Nayars 
each.  There  were  Cochin,  Calicut  and  a  number  of 
other  chiefs  also  to  whom  large  numbers  of 
Nayars  were  given.  Anyhow  we  see  that  the  Zamorin 
was  able  to  bring  about  50,000  Nayars  to  fight  Pacheco 
at  the  Cochin  ford.  In  1510,  when  Albuquerque 

1.  Tohfut,  page  61. 

i.  Page  192. 


BOAST  OF  NUMBERS 


431 


N.  43.] 

assaulted  Calicut,  it  is  said  that  “the  Indians  were  sur¬ 
prised,  but  the  chief  Nairs  uttered  a  cry  which 
repeated  from  mouth  to  mouth  to  the  distance  of  several 
miles  drew  quickly  around  him  30,000  men  well  armed.” 
Caesor  Frederick  (1563 — 1581)  tells  us  that  the  King  of 
Cochin  was  considered  “a  small  power  in  respect  of  the 
other  kings  of  the  Indies,  for  he  can  make  but  seventy- 
thousand,  men  of  armes  in  his  camp.”  The  Toktut-nl 
Mujahideen  speaks  of  the  Nayars  “being  very  numer¬ 
ous  and  possessed  of  great  power/*  In  Bartolomeo’s 
time,  though  the  Zamorin  had  been  shorn  of  a  good 
deal  of  his  glory,  he  was  able  to'  bring  into  the  field 
100,000  men,  while  the  Travancore  King  main¬ 
tained  a  standing  army  50,000,  besides  a  militia  of 
100,000  men.  Malabar  has  always  been  a  very  popu¬ 
lous  tract  though  a  large  portion  of  it  is  covered  by 
water  and  forest  lands.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  18th 
century,  Bartolomeo  calculated  the  population  of  Mala¬ 
bar  to  be  about  2  millions.  According  to  him,  in  the 
year  1771,  M.  Florentius,  a  Jesuit  Bishop  and  Vicar 
Apostolic,  gave  the  number  of  Christians  of  St.  Thomas 
as  94,600.  In  the  year  1787,  when  a  poll  tax  was  about 
to  be  imposed  on  them  by  the  King  of  Travancore,  they 
estimated  their  number  at  100,000.  Certainly,  on  such 
an  occasion  and  for  such  a  purpose,  it  was  not  likely 
that  they  would  have  exaggerated  their  numbers.  There 
were  about  50,000  Jacobites  whom  the  Carmelite 
Father  classes  as  Schismatics.  Of  new  converts  to  the 
Romish  faith,  there  were  about  100,000.  The  number 
of  Jews  he  calculates  as  being  about  15  to  20,000  men. 
To  these  are  added  100,000  Arabs,  30,000  Koncanies, 
Chetties,  Banians  and  Komatties  besides  15,000  Euro¬ 
peans,  Creols,  Mestifs  and  Topasses.  The  number  of 
the  original  inhabitants  of  the  country,  he  says,  is  far 
greater  than  the  sum  total  of  all  these  put  together.  He 
estimates  the  foreigners  to  number  about  400,000, 
while  the  original  inhabitants  amounted  to  1,600,000, 
that  in  all  there  were  about  2  million  inhabitants  in 
Malabar.  He  adds  that  this  calculation  was  made  at  a 


422  LETTERS  FROM  MALABaR  [L.  29. 

time  when  the  population  of  the  country  had  greatly 
suffered  by  the  war  with  Hyder  and  Tippu.1 

1.  Pp.  149 — 150. 


The  actual  population  of  Malabar  according  to  the  latest 
Census  1931  is  as  follows: — 


1931 

'1921 

Persons 

Males 

Females 

Persons 

Males 

Females 

Malabar  „• 

35.33.944 

17,16,138 

18,17,806 

30,98.871 

15.10,732 

15,88,139 

Travancore  ... 

50.95.973 

25.65.073 

25.10,900 

40,06,062 

20,32,553 

19,73.509 

Cochin 

12,05,016 

5.89.813 

6,15,203 

9.79.o8o 

4.82,959 

4.96,121 

Cochin  State 
(Nayars)  ... 

1.42,637 

66,225 

76,412 

1,31.054 

62,977 

68,07 

LETTER  XXI. 


Castes  of  lower  orders. 


i.  Among  early  travellers,  Varthema  mentions 
three  classes  who  may  be  considered  as  coming  under 
the  heading  of  lower  orders,  viz .  “The  Tiva,  who  are 
artizans,  the  Mechuva  and  these  are  fishermen,  the 
Polia,  who  collect  pepper,  wine  and  nuts,  and  the 
Hirava,  and  these  plant  and  gather  in  rice.”1  Barbose, 
Castenheda  and  others  mention  in  all  18  classes,  of 
whom  about  7  may  be  said  to  come  under  this  head. 

These  are— “The  Mucoa,  Betua,  Panen,  Canion, 
Renoleni,  Euler  and  Pareas”.  Linschoten  knew  only 
of  two  classes.  “Of  these  Malabarres,  there  are  two 
manner  of  people,  the  one  Noblemen  or  Gentlemen 

called  Nayros. . ,  the  other  is  the  common  people 

called. Polayas.”2  He  describes  these  to  be  “such  as 
are  the  country  Husbandmen  and  Labourers,  men  of 
occupations,  Fishers  and  such  like,  those  are  much 
condemned  and  despised,  they  live  miserably  and  may 
wear  no  kind  of  weapon,  neither  yet  touch  or  be  conver¬ 
sant  with  the  Nayros.’’3  Dr.  Fryer  mentions  three  clas¬ 
ses  in  all/  “The  nation  is  distinguished  by  three  ranks. 

The  Priests  make  the  first .  The  second,  form  is 

that  of  the  Nobiles .  The  last  and  lowest  are  the 

Artisans  and  Tillers  of  the  Earth.”  Hamilton,  in  the 
17th  cemtury,  mentions  “the  Tyvees,  the  Poulias,  the 
Muckavas  and  the  Poulichees”  among  the  lower  orders. 
The  Tohfut  ul- Mujahideen  mentions  “the  Shanars, 
the  carpenters,  iron-smiths,  painters,  fishermen,  and 
numerous  other  classes  who  are  labourers  generally; 
also  those  whose  occupation  consists  in  the  cultivation 

1.  P.  142. 

2.  P.  210. 

3.  P*  2i3* 


424 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  ai 

of  the  ground. ”1  It  does  not  however  mention  the  class 
or  caste  names  of  any  of  these.  ‘  In  fact,  the  author 
seems  to  know  of  the  Nayars  alone  by  caste  name,  for 
the  term  ‘Shanar\  used  to  indicate  the  Chogans  or 
Huvas,  is  not  a  Malayalam  one. 

2.  Chegos.  ( The  lluvas)  Next  after  the  Nsyars, 
the  Chogas  form  an  important  section  of  the  population 
of  Malabar. 

Designation .  In  South  Malabar,  on  the  coast 
and  in  North  Malabar,  this  class  is  known  by  the  name 
of  Tiyytrsy  while  in  the  Palghat  and  Valluvanad  Taluks 
and  in  the  States  of  Cochin  and  Travancore  they  are 
called  Ezhuvas  add*  Chogas .  The  Shannars  of  South 
Travancore  are  not  far  removed  from  them.  The  names 
by  which  the  caste  is  designated  are  supposed  to  indi¬ 
cate  the  place  of  their  origin  and  their  occupation  as  a 
body.  The  word  Tiya  is  said  to  be  a  corruption  of  the 
Sanskrit  word  Dwipa  or  Island,  showing  that  the 
Tiyer  or  Dwiper  had  their  origin  in  an  island  while  the 
word  Izhuva  is  supposed  to  indicate  that  island,  to  be 
Izham  a  corruption  of  Simhalam ,  the  name  by  which 
Ceylon  had  been  known  td  Hindus  for  many  centuries. 
The  word  Chogany  Chovan  or  Chekavan  is  said  to  have 
for  its  original  in  Sanskrit  uSevakan\u  e»,  one  who  works 
or  serves,  a  servant  or  workman.  The  corrupt  form 
Chevaka  or  Chekava  appears  in  some  old  boat-songs  of 
Malabar  and  is  commonly  used  among  the  lower  castes. 
The  term  Shannar  or  Channar  is  made  use  of  in  some 
parts  of  Travancore  as  an  honorofic  title,  though  the 
analogous  class  in  South  Travancore  is  known  as  Shan - 
narsy  and  these  bear  a  close  affinity  to  the  Tinnevelly 
Shannars.  They  get  honorofic  titles  from  the  Rajas  and 
local  chiefs  such  as  Thandany  Punampany  Panikkan%  fete. 
In  social  position,  the  Ezhuvas  (liuvas)  come  imme¬ 
diately  after  the  artizan  classes.  They  are  a  thrifty, 
industrious  and  pushing  community  who  seem  to  have 


i.  P.  69. 


THE  CHEGOS 


425 


N.  2.) 

made  up  their  mind  to  win  in  the  race  for  social,  in¬ 
dustrial  and  intellectual  advancement.  At  present  they 
cannot  compete  with  the  Njyars  in  Travancore,  Cochin 
and  British  Malabar  in  point  of  education.  Neither 
could  those  of  the  class,  in  the  Native  States  specially 
and  in  Malabar  generally,  do  so  for  they  were  to  some 
extent  handicapped  with  social  disabilities.  It  has 
been  so  from  remote  ages.  Barbosa  speaks  of  them  as 
belonging  to  a  sect  “which  no  respectable  people  touch 
on  pain  of  death’’.  He  adds  that  “  most  of  them  are 
serfs  to  Nairs  to  whom  the  kings  give  them,  so  that 
their  masters  may  be  supported  by  their  labour  and 
these  protect  and  show  favour  to  these  slaves”.1  The 
higher  classes  have  not  been,  from  selfish  motives* 
perhaps,  unkind  to  them.  They  themselves  have  opened 
their  eyes  and  are  making  a  determined  effort  to 
free  themselves  from  all  social  disabilities.  Educated 
people  of  the  higher  classes  are  assisting  them  in  these 
attempts  of  theirs.  Even  the  Native  States  have  begun 
to  break  through  hoary  traditions  and  allow  Havas 
who  are  qualified  by  their  education  to  enter  the  public 
service.  In  British  Malabar  they  early  attained  a 
comparatively  high  degree  of  education  and  advance¬ 
ment,  and  there  have  Seen  notable  instances  of  Tlava 
gentlemen  occupying  the  higher  grades  of  the  service 
such  as  Deputy  Collectors,  Sub-Judges,  etc. 

History  of  the  caste .  Regarding  their  early 
history,  several  traditions  are  extant.  The  Mackenzi. 
Mss.  refer  to  a  tradition  that  the  Havas  are  des¬ 
cended  from  a  Gandharva  woman  who  had  seven  sons. 
Another  story  says  that  a  Pandyan  Princess  named 
/HU  married  Narasimha,  a  Raja  of  the  Carnatic.  The 
couple  migrated  to  Ceylon  and  there  settled  themselves 
as  the  sovereigns  of  the  pountry.  In  their  train  came 
the  Havas  to  the  Peninsula.  We  have  already  observed 
that  it  is  generally  supposed  that  they  came  from 

i*  Pages  138 — 9. 

B3, 


426  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.21. 

Ceylon,  and  some  say  that  they  formed  the  first  wave 
of  emigrants  to  Malabar.  But  if  the  term  Havas  is 
to  be  derived  from  Izham  or  Silam  or  Simhalam ,  i.  e 
Ceylon,  then  the  reason  of  their  being  recognised  as 
the  earliest  settlers  is  not  apparent;  for  the  name  by 
which  Ceylon  was  known  to  the  ancients  was  Taprobcine 
(T^mraparni)  and  Lanka  and  not  Simhalam  or  Izham . 
But  it  is  possible  that  Ceylon  was  their  original  home 
and  that  they  migrated  to  the  continent  in  early  times  as 
the  etymology  of  their  caste  name  goes  to  show7.  Dr. 
Caldwell  has  observed  that  “The  general  and  natural 
course  of  migration  would,  doubtless,  be  from  the  main¬ 
land  to  the  Island:  but  there  may  occasionally  have 
been  reflex  waves  of  migration  even  in  the  earliest 
times,  as  there  certainly  w^ere  later;  traces  of  which 
survive  in  the  existence  in  Tinnevelly  and  the  western 
coast  of  castes  whose  traditions,  and  even  in  some  in¬ 
stances  whose  names  connect  them  with  Ceylon.” 
Again  “It  is  tolerably  certain  that  the  Izhavas  and 
Tiyas,  who  cultivate  the  cocoanut  palm  of  Travancore 
are  descendants  of  Shanar  colonies  from  Ceylon.  There 
are  traces  of  a  common  origin  among  them  all,  ‘Shanar’ 
for  instance,  being  a  title  of  honour  among  the  Travan 
core  Ezhavas  *  *  *  The  other  portions  of  the  im¬ 
migrants  esteemed  a  lower  division  ot  the  caste,  came 
by  sea  to  the  south  of  Travancore,  where  vast  numbers 
of  them  are  still  found  and  whence  having  but  little 
land  of  their  own  they  have  gradually  spread  themselves 
over  Tinnevelly  on  the  invitation  of  the  Natans  and 
other  proprietors  of  land,  who,  without  the  help  of 
their  poorer  neighbours,  as  climbers,  could  derive  but 
little  profit  from  their  immense  forests  of  palmyra.” 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  suggest  the  period  of  their 
imigration  into  Malabar  or  to  the  Tinnevelly  coast. 
According  to  Singalese  traditions,  the  Cholas  invaded 
Ceylon  so  early  as  the  3rd  century  B.  C.  and  again  in 
the  2nd.  century  B.  C.  and  for  a  time  in  the  2nd  cen¬ 
tury  A»  D.  The  Singalese  retaliated  and  invaded  the 


THE  CHEGOS 


N.  2.] 


421 


mainland  and  after  the  2nd  century  A.  D.>  there  were 
constant  wars  between  the  two  races.  “These  dates’* 
observes  Mr.  Logan,  ‘‘are  quite  uncertain,  but  it  is  to 
be  inferred  that  the  inlanders  obtained  possession  of 
some  portion  of  the  mainland  and  were  in  turn  brought 
under  subjection  by  an  erruption  of  a  Tamil  race 
Nayars)  under  Kshetrya  leaders  from  the  East  Coast.”1 

Mr.  Logan  adverts  to  a  tradition  that  the  ‘Ezhavars’ 
brought  the  cocoanut  tree,  the  ten-kay-maram>  i.  e., 
“the  southern  fruit  tree,”  and  introduced  it  into  Mala¬ 
bar  from  Ceylon.  But,  as  remarked  by  the  Cochin 
Census  Reporter,  “Except  that  Ceylon,  lying  to  the 
south  of  Kerala,  is  known  as  Ezham ,  and  that  cocoanut 
is  known  in  Malayalam  as  Thenga ,  Thenkayi  or  the 
southern  fruit,  there  is  not  much  to  substantiate  the 
tradition  of  the  Chogans  having  come  from  Ceylon  and 
brought  with  them  the  cocoanut  tree.”  If  they  did 
actually  come  from  Ceylon  and  bring  with  them  the  co¬ 
coanut  tree,  when  could  they  have  done  so  ?  It  is 
significant  that  the  inventory  of  articles  contained  in 
the  Periplus  2,  as  forming  the  staple  of  commerce  be¬ 
tween  the  East  and  West,  does  not  make  mention  of  the 
tree  or  its  produce.  It  has  been  described  as  the  “great 
nut  of  India  ”  and  more  than  one  author  has  remarked 
that  it  is  sufficient  to  build,  rig  and  freight,  a  vessel 
with  bread,  wine,  water,  oil,  vinegar,  sugar  and  other 
commodities.  A  mediaeval  couplet  referring  to  the 
cocoanut  palm  says  that  it 

“Yields  clothing,  meat,  trencher,  drink  and  can, 

Boat  sail,  oar,  mast,  needle,  all  in  one.” 

If  the  tree  had  existed  in  Malabar  at  the  time  the 
Periplus  was  Written,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  its 
noteworthy  products  would  have  escaped  the  attention 
of  the  shrewd  early  Greek  merchants.  In  Photio’s 
abridgement  of  the  Indika  of  Ktesias,  about  B.  C.  400, 
reference  is  made  to“palm  trees  and  their  dates” 
which  were  said  to  “be  thrice  the  size  of  those  in 

1.  P.  257. 

2.  1st  Century,  A.  D. 


428  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21 , 

Babyion”,  and  in  another  abridgement  of  the  same  author 
by  a  different  editor,  the  palm  fruits  are  referred  to  as 
the  “largest  nuts”,  It  may  be  conjectured  that  the 
reference  is  to  the  cocoanut  tree  and  its  fruit.  Later 
on,  we  have  an  accurate  description  of  the  tree  given 
by  Kosmos  Indi  Kopleustus  (525  to  547  A.  D.)  in  his 
Topographia  Christiana  under  the  name  Argellia .  The 
word  Argellia  is  evidently  an  erroneous  transliteration 
of  the  Sanskrit  word  Nari-Kelam  or  Nali-Keranu  de¬ 
noting  the  cocoanut.  It  would  not  be  far  wrong  to  say 
that  the  tree  must  have  been  introduced  into  Malabar 
between  the  dates  of  the  Periplus  and  of  Kosmos.  If 
then  the  Tluvas  brought  the  cocoanut  tree,  they  must 
have  arrived  between  the  1st  and  6th  centuries  A.  D.  It 
is  noteworthy  that  the  Tluvas  are  recognised  as  an  orga¬ 
nised  civic  guild  in  the  Syrian  copper-plate  deed  of  8th 
century  A. D.  with  ahead-man  of  their  own.  Two  of  their 
specific  privileges,’  ‘‘the  fetter  right”  (i.  e.  the  foot- rope 
for  mounting  cocoanut  trees)  and  the  “ladder  right” 
(for  reaping  pepper)  are  also  mentioned  in  the  deed, 
and  these  indicate  the  occupation  they  pursued  even 
then.  To  have  entitled  them  to  a  prominent  mention 
in  the  Syrian  deed  and  allowed  them  sufficient  time 
to  form  themselves  into  a  guild  with  a  head-man  of 
their  own  and  to  secure  exclusive  privileges,  much 
valued  at  the  time,  the  Tluvas  must  have  established 
themselves  in  Malabar  considerably  long  before  the 
date  of  their  deed.  This  document,  according  to  Dr. 
Burnell,  must  have  been  drawn  up  later  than  the  first 
Syrian  deed,  the  date  of  which  he  says  can  only  pos¬ 
sibly  be  A.  D.  774.  There  is  therefore  very  little  to 
support  the  tradition  mentioned  by  our  author  that  the 
Tluvas  established  themselves  in  Malabar  during  the 
time  ot  the  Great  Cheraman  Perumal. 

Appearance ,  dress  and' ornaments.  In  physique  and 
general  appearance,  they  look  very  much  like  Nsyars. 
Buchanan  speaks  of  them  as  “a  stout  handsome  industri¬ 
ous  race”.  The  males  of  the  middle  and  richer  classes 


N,  *.]  THE  CHEGOS  m 

especially  resemble  the  Nsyars  in  comeliness  and  clean¬ 
liness.  But  they  are  however  distinguishable  from  their 
Nsyar  brethren  by  a  certain  feature  of  their  dress  as 
also  by  their  manners,  etc.  Their  women  in  the  south 
are  seldom  well  favoured  and  in  this  respect  furnish  a 
strong  contrast  to  the  Jlyya  women  of  North  Malabar 
who  are  reputed  to  be  of  “remarkable  beauty.”  *. 
It  has-been  remarked  that“  in  appearance  some  of  the 
women  are  almost  as  fair  as  Europeans,  and  it  maybe 
said  in  a  general  way  to  a  European  eye  the  best 
favoured  men  and  women  are  the  inhabitants  of 
Kadathanad,  Iruvalinad,  and  Kottayam  a  large  majority 
of  whom  belong  to  the  Tiyya  or  planting  community.”3. 
The  dress  of  the  men  resembles  that  of  the  Nayars. 
But  not  so  that  of  the  women.  The  Tattu  form  of 
dressing  is  not  prevalent  among  the  ITuva  women, 
while  the  Nayar  women  in  South  Malabar,  Cochin  and 
Travancore,  except  in  the  extreme  south,  dress  in  that 
manner.  Both  however  eschew  coloured  apparel, 
though  both  were  once  in  the  habit  of  wearing 
coloured  cloths  on  festive  occasions.  In  the  matter  of 
ornaments  also,  there  was  a  good  deal  of  difference 
between  the  two  classes  till  but  recently.  The  H’uva 
women  used  to  be  satisfied  with  brass  and  silver 
ornaments.  In  Travancore,  all  the  old  fashioned 
restrictions  as  to  dress  and  ornaments  have  been  re¬ 
moved  by  a  Royal  Proclamation  and  every  one  of  what¬ 
ever  class  or  creed  is  now  allowed  freely  the  use  of  all 
kinds  of  dresses  and  ornaments.  In  practice  it  is  so 
in  Cochin  also.  As  a  result  we  see  the  Iluva  women 
fast  adopting  the  dress  and  ornaments  of  the  Nayars. 
The  Pampattam  or  Katila ,  a  Tamil  ear-jewel,  has 
already  given  place  to  the  Toda  of  the  Nayar.  But 
the  Mukkutti  and  Gnattu  or  the  nose -screw  and  its 
pendant  have  happily  not  come  into  use  still.  The  way 
in  which  they  dress  their  hair  also  differs  from  that  of 

1.  Buchanan,  Vol.  2,  p.  98. 

2.  Logan,  Vol.  1,  p.  143. 


430  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  ail 

the  Nsyar  women.  While  the  latter  tie  their  hair  into 
a  knot  of  peculiar  form  and  bring  it  coquetishly  on  one 
side  of  the  head,  the  former  gathers  them  into  a  knot 
in  the  centre  of  the  forehead.  This  distinction  is  also* 
fast  vanishing.  It  is  now  no  uncommon  sight  to  see 
young  Tluva  women  dressed  in  cloths  of  fine  texture 
wearing  the  Rowki  or  bodice  and  decked  with  precious 
jewels  walking  publicly  in  the  thoroughfares,  which 
was  a  rare  sight  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 

Occupation .  Their  traditional  occupation  is  to 
plant  and  rear  the  cocoanut  tree  and  gather  its  pro¬ 
duce,  to  make  toddy  and  to  distil  arrack.  We  see  that, 
so  early  as  the  8th  century  A.  D.,  they  had  formed 
themselves  into  a  guild  and  exercised  certain  specific 
functions  in  the  body  politic.  Varthema  tells  us  that 
the  third  class  of  Pagans  are  called  7iva  who  are  arti- 
zans.  1  According  to  Barbosa,  when  the  Portuguese 
arrived  on  the  coast,  their  employment  was  “to  till  the 
palm  trees  and  gather  their  fruits  and  carry  for  hire 
from  one  point  to  another.  They  hew  stones  and  gain 
their  livelihood  by  all  kinds  of  labour/’2  The  Lisbon 
edition  of  Barbosa  says,  “The  clearest  of  these  low 
and  rustic  people  are  called  Tivas  who  are  great  labour¬ 
ers,  and  their  chief  business  is  to  look  after  the  palm 
trees  and  gather  their  fruit,  and  carry  everything  for 
hire,  because  there  are  no  draught  cattle  in  the 
country.”3 

According  to  Zeen-ud-deen,  their*  occupation  was 
“to  climbe  the  cocoanut  trees,  gather  the  fruit,  and 
extract  the  juice  from  its  branches,  which  becomes  a 
fermented  liquor  of  an  intoxicating  nature,”4  TheTiuvas 
were  never  known  as  stone-hewers.  Evidently,  Barbosa 
is  mistaking  them  with  some  other  class,  probably  the 
KallsSSri  or  the  stone  mason.  Alexander  Hami.ton 
says  that  “the  Tejvees  aie  the  farmers  of  cocoanut  tre.-s 

i.  P.  142. 

2  P.  137* 

3*  t\  335* 

4.  P.  68, 


IZHUVAS  WITH  TODDY  -  DRAWING  POTS. 


( To  face  p.  4W 


THE  CHEGOS 


431 


N.  2.] 

and  are  next  to  the  gentry.”  Nieuhoff  correctly  states 
their  occupation.  He  says,  “  There  is  another  kind 
among  the  vulgar  sort,  called  by  some  Tivas  whose 
employment  is  to  draw  the  liquor  from  the  cocoanut 
trees.”  The  Tluvas,  more  or  less  still  hold  the  monopoly 
of  toddy  drawing.  Many  of  them  are  agriculturists  and 
some  have  recently,  taken  to  trade.  There  are  also 
among  them  boatmen  and  weavers.  Their  women  are 
as  much  earning  members  of  the  family  as  their  men. 
They  are  a  progressive  race  advancing  with  rapid 
strides*  They  have  taken  to  the  study  of  Sanskrit,  and 
a  goodly  number  of  Sanskrit  scholars  adorn  the  caste. 
Amongst  them  there  are  teachers,  astrologers  and 
doctors,  who  go  by  the  names  of  A  sans,  Jyolsians  and 
Vydyans .  There  are  officers  and  poets  among  them. 
Some  are  studying  English  and,  it  is  hoped,  the 
number  of  these  will  gradually  be  on  the  increase. 
Barbosa  tells  us  that“  some  of  them  learn  the  use  of 
arms.”  In  later  years,  Tluvas  were  employed  by  some  of 
theKeraia  Rajas  as  soldiers.  They  formed  separate  com. 
panies  by  themselves.  According  to  Barbosa,  “  the 
Raja  of  Porkad  (Ampalappula)  has  not  many  Nairs,  in 
the  place  of  whom  be  is  served  by  Chogas”. 

Sects  and  s ub- divisions .  According  to  Barbosa, 
in  his  time,  there  were  eleven  sects  among  the  Tluvas, 
but  from  the  manner  in  which  he  sepaks  of  their  occu¬ 
pation,  one  is  inclined  to  think  that  he  includes  the 
artisan  classes  also  as  Tluvas  as  Varthcma  does. 
Though  there  is  not  much  difference  between  the 
two,  still,  for  social  purposes,  they  stand  distinctly  apart. 
In  Travancore  the  Tlluvas  are  divided  into  Illams  or 
family  gioups,  such  as  Mutillam,  Choti  ill  am,  Marly  vanat 
illam,  etc.  The  real  significance  of  this  division  is  not 
clear.  Besides  this  there  is  a  further  division  into 
four  classes,  viz.,  the  Tiuva  proper,  the  Pandi  Tluvas* 
Kollathi  Tluvas  and  the  Pachili  Tluvas.  Their 
precedence  in  society  is  in  the  order  in  which  they  are 
named.  The  Tiyyas  of  North  Malabar  say  that  they 
belong  to  8  Illams  and  32  Kiriyams. 


432  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

The  names  of  these  Ulams  are:  — 

1.  Ncllikka\  2.  Pullanni\  3.  Vangeri ;  4*  Kozhikalan', 
5.  Patiyangiiti 6.  Manankuti)  7*  Thenan-kutr  8.  Velak - 
kamkutu 

In  Cochin,  Census  Report  of  1891  classified 
them  under  five  sub-divisions:  — 

1.  Ezhuvas  ;  2.  Tandan  ;  3.  Vathi  *  4.  Kavutyan\ 
5.  Teyyan . 

In  the  Census  of  1901,  however,  they  are  brought 

under  three  heads:— r 

•> 

(1)  Ezhuvan\  (2)  Tiyan;  (3)  Kavitiyan . 

In  fact  there  is  no  real  sub-division  into  sects  in 
the  community.  For  Tl’uvan  and  Tiyyan  are  but  desig¬ 
nations  denoting  the  same  class  inhabiting  different 
localities.  Tantln  is  the  title  given  to  the  headman 
of  the  caste  though,  in  some  parts,  the  term  indicates 
a  sub-caste,  only  locally  known.  Vathi  and  KaVuthiyan 
are  almost  synonymous  terms.  These  are  both  the 
barber  and  priest  of  the  Iluvas  who  do  not  intermess 
or  intermarry  with  them. 

Social  Organisation .  The  internal  economy  of 
the  caste  is  regulated  by  the  headmen  who  receive 
their  title  of  Tantan  or  Ponampan  or  Panikkan  from 
the  Rajas  and  local  chiefs.  In  the  State  of  Cochin,  the 
titles  give  the  holder  the  right  to  be  the  headman  of 
his  caste  living  within  prescribed  limits.  He  has  the 
privilege  of  wearing  a  gold  knife*  and  style,  may  put  on 
a  head  dress,  may  ride  on  a  horse,  carry  a  silk  umbrella, 
a  gold  or  silver  mounted  stick,  have  a  brass  lamp  borne 
before  him  and  enjoy  various  other  privileges  that  are 
generally  specified  in  the  grant. 

A  Tantan  is  generally  prohibited  from  doing  any 
menial  work,  such  as  ploughing,  or  climbing  cocoanut 
trees,  &c.  These  headmen  have  charge  of  a  certain 
number  of  houses  situated  within  the  limits  of  their 
jurisdiction  and  they  preside  at  the  caste  ceremonies, 
for  which  certain  perquisites  are  due  to  them.  They, 


THE  CHEGOS 


433 


N.  2,] 

together  with  the  elders  of  the  families  in  a  village, 
decide  disputes  arising  within  the  community.  In 
former  days,  they  had  a  council  of  31  or  61  elderly  men 
of  the  caste,  according  as  it  represented  the  sect  to 
which  they  belonged,  that  settled  all  caste  disputes. 
Its  decision  was  final.  This  authority  has  latterly  be¬ 
come  vested  in  the  headman.  In  the  Palghat  Taluk 
the  Il’uvas  of  the  various  villages  used  to  meet  under  a 
Pandalil  Elippa  in  Tenkurissi  for  discussing  caste  mat¬ 
ters.  As  the  community  increased  in  numbers,  local 
assemblies  were  arranged  for  in  place  of  the  general 
assembly.  Besides  these,  in  certain  localities,  the  peo¬ 
ple  elect  four  of  their  own  castemen  whose  function  is 
to  decide  all  disputes,  preside  at  all  ceremonies  and 
convene  meetings  for  the  settlement  of  all  important 
matters  relating  to  the  welfare  of  the  community.  The 
decisions  of  the  assemblies-  and  of  the  headmen  are 
enforced  by  imposition  of  fines  which,  if  not  paid,  the 
defaulting  delinquent  is  subjected  to  social  penalties 
such  as  excommunication,  interdiction  from  social  cere¬ 
monies,  etc. 

In  Travancore,  as  among  several  other  castes, 
the  Tluvas  have  their  social  headmen  who  are  known 
as  ChannSrmar,  mutul  pattukar,  and  Perambanmar. 
In  each  circle  or  Pratikranam  consisting  of  a  certain 
number  of  Karas  and  Muris,  i.  e.,  villages  and  sub-divi¬ 
sions  of  villages,  there  are  a  few  of  these  headmen,  not 
less  than  five  or  six  in  number,  whose  business  it  is  to 
make  preliminary  enquiries  about  social  disputes  and 
convene  meetings  for  the  arbitration  and  settlement  of 
all  such  disputes-  Marriage  and  other  important  cere¬ 
monies  unless  performed  with  the  knowledge  or  per¬ 
mission  of  these  headmen  are  not  considered  to  have 
been  done  ‘in  due  and  proper  form  according  to  the 
usages  of  the  caste,’  and  have  therefore  no  validity. 
They  are  charged  with,  the  distribution  of  a  deceased 
man’s  property  to  his  heirs,  and  they  attest  the  docu¬ 
ments  relating  thereto.  They  make  changes  in  the 


434  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

customs  and  usages,  and  the  excommunication  of  any 
one  offending  the  caste  rules  or  the  re-admission  of  one 
put  out  of  caste,  after  due  prayaschittam,  has  to  be 
done  by  them.  The  headmen  meet  every  month  in 
some  places,  while  elsewhere  their  meetings  take  place 
only  on  occasions  of  some  important  ceremony.  The 
management  of  their  village  temples  and  institutions  is 
entrusted  to  them.1 

Marrige .  The  Tluvas  go  through  both  forms  of 
ceremony,  the  Talikettu  Kalyanam  and  the  Mangalam, 
i.  e.,  the  real  wedding.  The  former  is  performed  more 
or  less  on  the  lines  adopted  by  the  Nayars,  with 
some  variations  in  details.  Neglect  to  perform  the 
Talikettu  KalySnam  in  time,  u  e.,  generally  before 
the  girl  attains  puberty,  entails  social  disgrace  in  most 
parts  of  Malabar.  First  comes  the  ChSrttu  pidi  which 
corresponds  to  the  Poluttonituka  of  the  Nayars  and 
consists  in  fixing  the  first  pole  of  the  marriage  pandal 
at  an  auspicious  hour.  This  is  followed  by  the  Ashta- 
mangalyam  or  the  ceremony  of  placing  the  eight 
auspicions  things  in  the  presence  of  the  caste  headmen, 
the  TantSn,  or  Ponampan.  After  this,  some  paddy  is 
boiled  over  the  fire  set  up  for  Ashtamangalyam.  This 
is  called  Polunellu  Pulunguka,  u  e,,  boiling  the 
ceremonial  paddy.  The  astrologer  (Kaniyan)  is  asked 
to  compare  the  horoscopes  of  the  bride  and  the  bride¬ 
groom  designate  and  appoint  an  auspicious  hour  for 
the  marriage  ceremony.  The  day  is  fixed  and  written 
on  a  piece  of  cadjan  handed  over  to  the  father  or 
karanavan  of  the  girl.  The  girl  undergoes  Shandan - 
guzhika  or  a  sort  of  exorcism  by  the  Tluvatti  or  the 
barber  priest.  Another  important  ceremony  is  the 
Kappu  Kettuka  or  the  tying  of  the  sacred  thread,  dyed 
yellow  with  turmeric,  round  the  wrist  oPthe  girl.  She 
is  then  smeared  with  oil  and  adorned  with  ornaments 
made  of  the  tender  leaves  of  the  cocoanut  palm,  taken 
in  procession  with  tom-toms,  music  and  pop-guns  to  a 
tank,-  bathed  and  brought  back  in  her  best  attire,  and 

it  Travancore  State  Manual \  Vol.  II,  pp.  400—4014 


THE  CHEGOS 


N.  a.] 


435 


adorned  with  jewels  and  ornaments  from  head  to  foot. 
In  the  evening,  there  is  the  A^talam  Uttu  or  grand 
supper.  Next  morning,  amidst  music,  tom-toms,  and 
shouts,  she  worships  the  sun,  standing  on  a  pedastal. 
This  is  called  Adityan  Toluka.  The  bridegroom  is 
brought  in  great  state  and  is  met  at  the  gate  by  the  re¬ 
latives  of  the  bride  with  lamps,  etc.  He  is  led  to  his 
seat  in  the  pandal.  So  also  the  bride.  The  former, 
standing  behind  the  bride,  ties  the  tali  or  the  badge  of 
marriage  with  a  yellow  coloured  thread  round  the  neck 
of  the  girl  amidst  the  din  of  music  and  drums  and  pop¬ 
gun  firing.  He  then  sits  on  the  right  side  of  the  bride 
and  the  female  guests  who  are  invited  sprinkle  some 
water  over  them  from  potful  of  water  placed  before 
him  with  a  few  mango  leaves.  This  is  called  Vachu- 
$ali.  Presents  are  then  made  after  which  a  grand 
feast  is  given.  The  festivities  continue  for  four  days 
on  the  last  of  which  comes  the  Nalam  Kuli  or  the 
fourth  day’s  bath.  The  ceremonies  close  with  the 
couple  dressed  in  gala  attire  going  to  worship  in  a 
neighbouring  temple.  A  good  lot  of  money  is  wasted 
on  this  ‘mock  marriage’,  and  the  vicarious  husband  is, 
after  a  few  days,  dismissed  with  presents  of  a  pair  of 
cloths  and  a  couple  of  rupees,  the  marriage  badge  or 
tali  being,  in  the  meanwhile,  removed  from  the  neck  of 
the  bride  and  the  expensive  farce  closes ! 

The  real  marriage  comes  on  later.  The  father 
and  karanavan  of  the  bridegroom  arrange  the  match 
with  those  of  the  bride.  Horoscopes  are  consulted 
and  a  day  fixed.  The  parents  exchange  vessels  of 
water  in  token  of  their  agreement.  The  castemen 
assemble  at  the  bride’s  house  and  are  treated  to  a  feast. 
The  actual  ceremony  is  preceded  by  the  Kanam 
Kotnkkal  or  the  payment  of  ‘bride’s  price’  which  con¬ 
sists  of  the  wedding  garments  along  with  Rs.  5/4, 
Rs.  10/8,  Rs.  15/8,  in  North  Malabar,  Rs*  3,  Rs.  6/4, 
Rs.  18/12,  Rs.  31/5,  in  the  Cochin  State,  and  8  16,  21 
or  32  Kali  fanams  (7  fanams=i  Rupee)  in  Travancore* 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  si* 


436 

The  bride’s  parents  present  her  with  ornaments.  In 
some  places  the  Tantan  ur  headman  is  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  these  transactions.  When  the  matter  is  ar¬ 
ranged,  the  bridegroom’s  Tantan,  i*  e.>  the  headman  of 
the  locality  to  which  he  belongs,  gives  to  the  bride’s 
Tantan  2  betel-leaves  and  tells  him,  “we  shall  be  com- 

t  *  • 

ing  with  such  and  such  a  number  of  men  and  women 
for  the  weddingV'to  which  the  other  would  reply  “if 
you  will  satisfy  our  claims  with  five  and  a  half  or  ten 
and  a  half  rupees,  six  new  pieces  of  cloth  ( muri )  and 
two  fanams  for  the  uncle’s  son,  we  shall  hand  over  the 
girl”.  This  last  has  allusion  to  the  preferential  claim 
that  the  uncle’s  son  always  has  to  the  hand  of  the 
niece. 

On  the  day  of  the  marriage,  the  bridegroom  and 
party  proceeds  in  state  to  the  bride’s  house  and  are 
received  ceremoniously  at  the  entrance  by  the  bride’s 
father  and  karanavan.  All  along  the  way  there  is  a 
display  of  sword  play  and  athletic  feats  in  front  of 
the  bridegroom.  The  party  assemble  in  the  marriage 
pandal.  There  is  a  free  distribution  of  Pansupari  and 
sprinkling  of  rose-water.  The  two  ksranavans  stand  face 
to  face,  east  and  west,  and  with  the  permission  of  the 
assembly  the  one  gives  the  bride’s  price  and  the  other 
receives  it.  The  bridegroom’s  Eriangan  (clan’s  man) 
takes  a  plate  on  which  are  placed  the  wedding  gar¬ 
ments  along  with  eight  annas  and  hands  it  over  to  the 
bride’s  Enangan  who  in  his  turn  passes  it  on  to  the 
bride’s  Ammayi  or  uncle’s  wife.  After  this  follows 
the  wedding  feast  and  the  distribution  of  tobacco  and 
betel-leaf.  The  party  assembles  once  more  in  the 
pandal  where  in  the  presence  of  a  well-lighted  lamp 
and  in  the  full  face  of  the  assembly,  the  bride’s  ksrana- 
van  brings  her  to  the  door  and  makes  the  following 
declaration  “I  offer  thee  this  girl,  and  thou  mayest 
^protect  her  and  punish  her  when  necessary.  Thou 
mayest  send  her  back  when  thou,'  does  not  wish  to  have 
her  as  wife’*.  This  form  of  declaration  is  made  when 


THE  CHEGOS 


N.  a.] 


437 


the  parties  are  followers  of  the  MarumakkaftSyam 
system  of  inheritance.  If  they  are  MakkatJSyees, 
the  declaration  would  run  thus,  “I  offer  thee  this  girl 
so  that  thou  mayest  protect  her  and  punish  her  when 
occasion  necessitates  it.  It  is  further  incumbent  upon 
thee  to  have  her  children  as  heirs  to  thy  property  as 
well  as  to  thy  Tarawad  (Family)”*  She  is  then  handed 
over  to  the  bridegroom.  After  this,  the  bride  and 
bridegroom  depart  to  their  future  home  where  they 
are  received  with  great  ceremony. 

The  ceremonies  of  course  vary  somewhat  as 
localities  vary.  In  North  Malabar,  the  bridegroom 
winds  the  tali  round  the  neck  of  the  girl  and  his 
sister  completes  the  knot  in  imitation  of  the  Brahman 
custom.  The  bride’s  mother  receives  the  bride-price. 
The  bride  will  be  accompanied  by  two  friends  dressed 
like  himself  and  just  as  the  couple  leaves  the  house  to 
their  future  home,  the  bride’s  maternal  uncle’s  son  or 
Machan  as  he  is  termed,  who  has  a  prior  claim  to  her 
hand  meets  them  in  the  way  and  obstructs  their  pass¬ 
age.  The  friends  oppose  him  and  the  mock  fray  is 
closed  with  a  compromise  by  the  Machan  being  com¬ 
pensated  with  the  payment  of  two  fanams.  This  custom 
prevails  among  numerous  other  races  inhabiting  vari¬ 
ous  parts  of  the  world.  In  Palghat,  there  is  a  custom 
of  marriage  by  proxy,  the  bridegroom’s  sister  perform¬ 
ing  the  ceremony  of  tying  the  tali  and  bringing  over 
the  bride  to  the  bridegroom’s  house. 

There  are  remnants  of  polyandrous  marriage  still 
existing  in  certain  parts  of  the  country  among  the 
Tluvas  for  instance  in  the  Talapilli  Taluk  of  the 
Cochin  State,  the  Valluvanad  Taluk  of  South  Malabar 
and  in  remote  corners  of  Travancore.  The  following 
account  adapted  from  the  description  of  such  marriages 
by  Mr.  L.  K.  Anantakrishna  Ayyar  in  his  work  on 
Cochin  Tribes  and  Castes  will  be  found  interesting. 

In  the  Northern  parts  of  the  State  especially  in 
the  Talapilli  Taluk  and  in  the  Valluvanad  Taluk  of 


m  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  2  ti 

South  Malabar,  there  is  a  peculiar  form  of  marriage 
prevailing  among  the  Tluvas  who  are  called  Tar¬ 
tans.  In  a  family  in  which  there  are  four  or  five 
brothers  living  together,  the  eldest  of  them  marries  an 
adult  woman,  who  by  a  simple  ceremony  becomes  the 
wife  of  all.  The  bridegroom,  with  his  sister  and  others, 
goes  to  the  hut  of  the  bride-elect,  where  they  are 
well  received.  The  sister  or  some  other  relation  of 
the  bridegroom,' hands  over  to  the  e^angan  or  to  the 
uncle  of  the  bride  a  plate  with  a  wedding  garment  and 
31  or  1 01  putjans  (Rs.  1 — 10 — o  or  5 — 4 — o)  as  the 
price  of  the  bride,  reciting  certain  verses  in  Malayalam, 

The  person,  with  the  plate  in  hand  makes  obeisance 
to  the  good  old  men  assembled  in  the  shed,  and  says, 
UI  invoke  your  blessings  for  the  unobstructed  celebra¬ 
tions  of  the  marriage  which  has  to  be  solemnised  in  your 
presence,  in  obedience  to  the  time  honoured  customs 
of  our  ancestors’’.  The  relations  of  the  bride,  her 
eijangan  her  caste-men  are  there.  The  lamp  in  the 
shed  is  trimmed  to  produce  a  bright  light.  The 
e^angan,  unites  the  groom’s  father  and  the  bride’s  uncle. 
Placing  a  few  packets  of  betel-leaf  and  nuts  in  a  metal 
plate,  the  two  parties  mention  their  gotras  (clanship) 
and  the  bride’s  price  to  be  fixed  together  with  the  wed¬ 
ding  garment  is  also  placed  therein.  He  finally  says 
“I  may  be  excused  for  any  fault,  committed  by  me  in 
my  request  before  the  assembly”. 

Receiving  the  plate,  the  bride’s  e^angan  gives  the 
following  reply: — 

“You  may  beat  her  but  not  with  a  stick.  You 
should  not  accuse  her  of  bad  conduct.  You  should  not 
cut  off  her  ears,  breasts,  and  tuft  of  hair.  You  should 
not  take  her  to  a  tank  or  a  Kavu  (belonging  to  high 
caste-men.)  You  may  keep  and  protect  her,  as  long  as 
you  wish.  When  you  wish  to  give  her  up  we  shall 
take  her  back  without  fail  if  she  is  brought  along  with 
a  third  man  {i.  <?.,  a  witness)  and  the  e^angan  of  this 


THE  CHEGOS 


439 


N.  2.] 

day,  even  if  she  had  born  io  sons,  provided  you  satisfy 
DatiSvak^sam,  i.  e .>  claim  for  maintenance”. 

9  9  » 

The  bride  and  bridegroom  are  then  seated  on  a 
mat  and  given  sweets, T  <?.,  some  milk,  plantain  fruits 
and  sugar.  This  completes  the  union.  The  guests 
are  entertained  at  a  dinner,  after  which  the  bridegroom 
returns  home  with  the  bride.  At  this  stage,  the  bride 
is  the  wife  only  of  the  eldest  brother.  If  she  is  however 
intended  as  the  wife  of  his  brothers,  the  sweet  prepara¬ 
tion  is  served  to  them  and  the  bride,  either  in  the  hut  of 
the  bridegroom  by  their  mother,  or  in  that  of  the  bride 
by  their  mother-in-law.  Thence  forward  she  becomes  the 
wife  of  all.  It  is  the  custom  even  now  for  four  or  five 
brothers  to  marry  a  young  woman.  They  follow  the 
conduct  of  the  Pandavas.  They  associate  with  her  by 
turns,  and  keep  a  vessel  of  water  at  the  door  to  let  the 
others  know  that  one  of  them  is  in.  Should  this  be 
proved  to  be  unpleasant  or  inconvenient,  one  of  them 
marries  again  and  keeps  her  either  himself  or  allows 
her  to  be  the  wife  of  others  also.  The  sons  or  daughters 
are  the  common  property  of  all  of  them. 

Mr.  Logan  observes  that,  “it  is  said  that  (Tiya) 
women  are  not  as  a  rule  liable  to  any  excommunica-. 
tion,  if  they  live  with  Europeans  and  the  consequence 
is  that  there  has  been  a  large  admixture  of  European 
blood,  and  the  caste  itself  has  been  materially  raised  in 
the  social  scale.”1  But  this  statement  is  thought  to  be 
too  wide  and  it  is  asserted'with  undoubted  truth  that 
such  an  alliance  as  mentioned  by  Mr.  Logan  is  looked 
upon  with  contempt  by  the  respectable  classes  as  well 
as  the  orthodox  community  who  form  the  majority. 
Those  who  form  such  alliances  and  those  who 
associate  with  such  people  are  regarded  as  outcastes 
and  tabooed  from  caste  and  society. 

Divorce  is  not  unusual  but  of  rare  occurrence.  It 
is  known  as  AchSram  Ivotukkal.  Causes  for  which 
divorce  is  allowed  are:— want  of  affection  between  the 

I  Voh  I,  p.  143. 


440  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [ L .  2t. 

parties,  unchaste  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  wife,  faith¬ 
lessness  on  the  part  of  the  husband,  impotency,  barren¬ 
ness,  insanity  and  other  like  causes.  The  elders  enquire 
into  the  allegations  and  decide.  If  the  husband  is  the 
party  divorcing,  he  should  take  the  wife  back  to  her 
parents  and  leave  her  there.  He  will  get  half  the  bride- 
price  he  had  paid  or  he  may  have  to  give  up  the 
whole.  If  the  wife  leaves  the  husband,  she  has  to  go 
back  to  her  parents  herself  and. they  return  the  hus¬ 
band’s  dues.  Re-marriage  may  take  place.  The  children 
live  with  the  father  or  the  uncle  according  as  their 
father  is  a  follower  of  Makkattayam  or  Marumak¬ 
kattayam  law  of  inheritance. 

Inheritance .  Among  the  Tluvas  both  forms  of 
inheritance  prevail,  viz.*  the  Makkattayam  and  the 
Marumakkattayam.  Those  of  North  Malabar,  southern 
parts  of  the  Cochin  State  and  of  Travancore  as  far  as 
Quilon  follow  the  Marumakkattayam,  while  in  South 
Malabar,  the  northern  parts  of  the  Cochin  State  and 
south  of  Quilon  in  Travancore,  Makkattayam  prevails. 
The  fylakkattayam  they  follow  is  however  not  that  of 
the  Hindu  Law  pure  and  simple.  They  are  guided 
more  by  customary  law  than  by  any  written  texts. 
The  rule  of  impartibility,  the  lapse  of  one’s  undisposed 
of  self-acquisition  to  the  tarawad  without  devolving. by 
inheritance  on  one’s  nearest  heirs  differentiate  Tiyya 
Makkattayam  from  that  of  the  ordinary  Hindu  law. 
In  North  Malabar  there  is  a  mixed  system  of  Makka- 
ftSyam  and  Marumakkattayam.  The  issue  of  parents 
of  this  class  take  the  benefit  of  both  systems.  But 
custom  varies  in  different  localities.  In  the  Calicut 
Taluk  the  self-acquisition  of  an  undivided  intestate, 
Tiyya  passes  on  to  his  brother  in  preference  to  his 
widow.  When  however  the  brothers  are  divided,  *he 
property  acquired  by  the  deceased  and  his  father  go  to 
his  widow  and  daughter  in  preference  to  his  father’s 
divided  brothers.  In  the  Palghat  Taluk  partition  is 
allowed  ;  where,  partition  takes  place  no  separate  share 


441 


N.  2.]  THE  CHE0OS 

is  given  to  females,  their  right  being  only  to  be  main¬ 
tained  out  of  the  family  property.  From  Quilon  to 
Trivandrum,  the  sons  and  nephews  equally  share  the 
KSranavan’s  self-acquisition. 

Ceremonies  after  marriage .  During  pregnancy, 
an  Iluva  woman  has  to  perform  the  Pulikuti  ceremony 
either  in  the  fifth  or  the  nineth  month.  InTra van- 
core,  this  is  observed  in  the  7th  month.  With 
slight  difference  in  detail,  it  is  the  same  as  the 
Nsyar  Pulikuti.  In  the  fifth  month  is  performed 
another  ceremony  which  is  somewhat  peculiar  to  this 
community,  viz .,  TiyySttam  or  P^vSttam.  In  front  of 
a  leafy  arbour,  the  figure  of  Chsmundi,  the  queen  of  the 
demons,  is  drawn  with  rice  flour,  turmeric  and  char¬ 
coal  powder.  Eighteen  washermen  dressed  as  demons 
appear  on  the  stage  before  this  figure  in  pairs,  dance, 
caper,  jump,  roar,  fight  and  throw  at  each  other  quan¬ 
tities  of  saffron  water.  They  work  themselves  up  to 
a  frenzy  and  are  given  fowls  and  goats  which  they  kill 
and  drink  the  blood.  After  this  the  convulsions  cease 
and  the  dance  is  over.  The  din  of  tom-tom  beating 
and  the  shouting  of  those  gathered  coupled  with  the 
strange  doings  of  the  dancers  make  a  hell  of  the  place. 
This  sort  of  dance  is  peculiar  to  the  northern  parts  of 
the  Cochin/  State. 

Child-birth.  The  confinement  takes  place  in  a 
separate  room  attended  by  a  mid-wife.  If  the  woman  is 
delivered  of  a  male  child,  the  women  of  the  house  make 
Vsikaia  or  Kurava,  a  peculiar  shout  or  ululation  made  by 
women  in  Malabar  indicating  joy.  If  a  female  child,  a 
woman  strikes  the  earth  with  the  mid-rib  of  a  cocoanut 
palm  bough.  With  the  Nsyars,  the  birth  of  a  male  child  is 
announced  by  the  Arappu  or  the  hurraing  of  men,  and 
that  of  a  female  by  the  Kurava  of  women.  A  female  re¬ 
lative  would  put  a  few  drops  of  a  mixture  of  palm  sugar 
and  onion  into  the  mouth  of  the  babe,  and  it  is  believed 
that  the  infant  acquires  the  habits  of  this  individual. 

Instead  of  this  mixture,  some  give  the  water  of  a  tender 

BD. 


442  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

cocoanut,  whilst  others  use  water  in  which  some  gold 
dust  is  mixed.The  mother  observes  pollution  for  15  days, 
and  is  purified  by  the  Panchagavyam .  In  some  parts 
the  pollution  is  removed  by  the  barber  woman  who 
breaks  a  cocoanut,  scrapes  it  into  fine  flakes,  which  she 
throws  about  the  house.  The  child  is  named  on  the 
2Sth  day.  Names  of  Puranic  deities  have  now  come 

into  use.  Formerly,  the  names  commonly  used  were 

Dravidian.  For  males,  Chattan,  Kontan,  Ittyaji, 
Makki,  etc.;  for  females,  Kaii,  Uli,  Kota,  Chakki,  etc. 
Pet  names  in  vogue  are  Unni,  Kuttan,  Kutfi  for  males, 
Kutti-peijQi],  Kunji-pyfal  for  females. 

The  first  rice-giving  takes  place  when  the 

child  is  six  months  old.  When  the  first  tooth 

appears,  a  kind  of  sweet  meat  called  Palafca,  a 
preparation  of  rice  flour  paste  in  milk  with  sugar 
and  cocoanut,  is  given  to  relatives.  The  first  .cutting 
of  the  heir  or  tonsure,  ear-boring  and  -VidySrambham 
or  initiation  into  letters  all  are  observed  in  succession. 

Religion .  The  religion  of  the  Tluvas  is  profes¬ 
sedly  Hinduism,  but  of  the  Dravidian  type  rather  than 
the  Aryan.  Jt  is  mixed  up  a  good  deal  with  animism. 
The  worship  of  the  much  dreaded  Kali  under  the  form 
of  AghoraSakti  is  very  popular  and  her  shrines  are  fre¬ 
quently  resorted  to.  The  form  in  which  she  is  wor¬ 
shipped  has  been  thus  described:  “She  is  represented 
as  wearing  on  her  head  a  fiery  snake  encircled  by  ser- 
pants.  Siva’s  signs  are  also  marked  on  her  forehead. 
Lion-fangs  protrude  from  her  mouth,  and  she  possesses 
ten  hands,  two  of  which  are  clasped  together  and  two 
empty,  while  three  on  the  right  side  carry  respectively, 
a  rope,  a  parrot,  and  a  spear  and  three  on  the  left  side 
a  drum  with  a  snake,  fire  and  trident.”  Her  shrine  at 
Kodungallur  (Cranganur)  in  the  Cochin  State  is  a 
favourite  resort  of  worship,  and  a  great  number  of 
Huvas  congregate  there  for  the  Bhararii  festival,  and 
the  number  of  fowls  sacrificed  on  the  occasion  is  so 
great  that  the  festival  goes  by  the  name  of  'cock  festival' 


«  . 


SRI  NARAYANA  GURU  SWAMI. 


(  To  face  p.  443 


'*■  M, 


THE  CHEGOS 


443 


N.  2,J 

The  Iluvas  resort  to  the  Brahman  temples  also  for  wor¬ 
ship,  but  have  to  stand  at  a  distance,  not  being  allowed 
to  approach  the  shrine.  They  seem  to  feel  the  indig¬ 
nity  and  have  begun  to  build  their  own  temples  where 
priests  of  their  own  class  officiate.  These  temples 
have  been  up  to  this  consecrated  by  a  well-known  pre¬ 
ceptor  of  their  community,  Sri  NsrSyana  Gurukkal 
under  whose  guidance  and  aided  by  other  prominent 
men  as  well,  the  community  is  making  rapid  strides. 

The  Iluvas  worship  Ganapati,  Subramaijian, 
Ayyappan  or  Sasta  and  Vlrabhadra,  all  Saiva  deities. 
They  are  more  Saivite  than  Vaishnavite,  but  they  do 
not  eschew  the  worship  of  Vishnu  altogether.  Ancestor- 
worship  and  Serpent  worship  are  also  in  vogue. 

Death  ceremonies .  There  is  not  much  difference 
as  regards  funeral  ceremonies  between  the  Nsyars  and 
Iluvas.  The  main  lines  are  the  same.  It  is  not  all  that 
are  cremated.  The  dead  bodies  of  the  poor  are  buried. 
As  soon  as  death  takes  place,  the  body  is  washed, 
dressed  in  neat  cloths,  smeared  with  sandal  paste  on 
the  forehead,  breast  and  shoulders  and  removed  to  the 
front  door.  The  Tantan  or  headman  is  sent  for,  and 
he  on  coming  puts  up  a  shed  of  cocoanut  palm  leaves 
in  the  yard  and  the  body  is  placed  in  it.  The  barber 
prepares  a  mixture  of  newly  beaten  paddy  with  the 
husk  removed  and  cocoanut  scraping.  Those  who  are 
closely  related  to  the  deceased  put  a  pinch  of  the  mix¬ 
ture  into  the  mouth  of  the  corpse.  This  is  called 
Vsykkari  Ituka.  They  also  put  new  cloths  on  the 
body  which  together  with  the  ear-rings  of  the  deceased 
form  the  perquisites  of  the  barber.  The  shed  remains 
for  *7  days  and  a  lamp  is  kept  burning  in  it.  TheT^ody 
with  a  winding  sheet  of  new  cloth  is  removed  to  the 
Paftara  Stanam,  u  e.>  the  eastern  side  of  the  main 
entrance,  removed  a  little  to  the  south.  Some  cere¬ 
monies  are  performed  here  after  which  it  is  either 
cremated  or  buried.  A  tender  cocoanut  is  placed^ at 
each  end  of  the  grave.  The  Udaka  Kfiya  and  Sancha- 
yanam  already  described  in  the  case  of  the  Nsyars  are 


444  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

also  performed.  The  bones  are  collected  in  a  pot  and 
thrown  into  the  sea  or  a  river  at  some  convenient 
time. 

The  death  pollution  lasts  for  15  days.  The  mourn¬ 
ers  fast  on  the  night  previous  to  the  Pulakuii,  and  on 
the  next  morning  bathe  with  a  few  drops  of  oil  on  their 
body  and  perform  the  ceremony  of  Shadangam .  Rice 
balls  are  offered  to  the  manes  of  the  deceased  which 
are  afterwards  thrown  into  the  water.  They  then 
bathe  once  more  and  an  Enangan  sprinkles  some  water 
mixed  with  cow-dung  on  them.  Castemen  are  enter¬ 
tained  to  a  feast  on  the  night  of  the  15th  day  and  on 
the  1 6th  day  a  ceremony  called  Shodajem  is  performed. 
The  rice  ball  offerings  (Mana  pindam)  and  the  bones 
of  the  departed  are  placed  in  a  metal  plate  and  covered 
with  a  piece  of  silk.  It  is  carried  by  the  chief  mourner 
who  goes  to  the  nearest  piece  of  water,  whether  tank 
or  river,  riding  on  an  elephant  or  a  horse  (this  is  a 
special  privilege  granted  by  local  chiefs  or  Rajas  and 
can  be  exercised  only  under  grant)  or  walking,  and 
dips  himself  with  it  in  the  water.  The  procession  is 
accompanied  by  music  and  drums.  On  return,  the 
1 6th  day  feast  is  celebrated  sumptuously,  and  rich  men 
spent  much  money  on  this.  The  Dlk§ha  and  SrSdhas 
are  also  regularly  observed. 

There  are  various  superstitious  beliefs  regarding 
dead  persons.  The  graves  of  virgins  dying  young  are 
used  as  places  of  worship,  some  tree  such  as  Pala 
(Alstonia  scholaris)  being  planted  over  the  grave  and 
a  lamp  kept  burning.  Pregnant  women  dying  or  those 
dying  in  child  birth  are  supposed  to  become  demons 
(this  is  believed  in  by  the  Nayars  also)  and  are  there¬ 
fore  buried  at  a  distance  with  manjrams  repeated  over 
the  grave  to  prevent  their  spirits  from  returning  to  the 
house  to  injure  its  inmates.  Those  who  die  “ of  fever” 
(rather  of  small-pox)  are  supposed  to  become  Maruthas 
and  are  strangely  enough  “buried  inside  the  house, 


THE  CHEGOS 


N,  2.] 


445 


mantrams  being  said  over  them  also,  to  hinder  their 
attacking  the  survivors.”  This  was  so  with  Nsyars 
also  in  former  days.  For  those  who  die  violent  deaths, 
the  regular  funeral  ceremonies  are  performed  only  after 
their  souls  have  been  purified  by  the  mantravSdies  or 
sorcerers. 

The  recognized  priests  of  the  ffuvas  are  their 
barbers  who  are  known  as  Tluvstties.  They  take  part 
in  the  funeral  ceremonies.  Their  women  tie  the  Prathi 
Sararn  or  the  diksha  string  round  the  wrist  of  the 
bride  at  a  marriage  and  they  finally  hand  over  the  jsli 
or  marriage  badge  to  the  bride-groom  which  he  has  to 
tie  round  the  neck  of  the  bride. 


Food  and  drink .  Rice  is  their  staple  food.  They 
eat  fish  and  meat,  beef  excepted.  As  for  drink,  the 
better  classes  do  not  take  intoxicating  liquors,  though 
the  lower  classes  cannot  be  expected  to  be  free  from 
the  temptation  of  partaking  of  the  toddy  and  arrack 
they  themselves  draw  and  distil.  Dr.  Buchanan  informs 
us  that  in  his  day  the  Tiyyans  of  Malabar  may  “drink 
distilled  liquors  but  not  palm  wine”. 

General  condition  and  position  in  society .  The 

accounts  we  have  from  early  writers  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made  show  that  in  former  times  their 
position  in  society  was  very  low.  Ward  and  Conner 
in  their  Memoir  of  the  Survey  of  Travancore  and 
Cochin  say  that  “they  were  treated  with  contempt  by 
the  higher  castes  and  were  owned  in  a  kind  of  servi¬ 
tude,  mitigated  to  be  sure,  when  contrasted  with  the 
proedial  slaves.”  Day  says  that  “they  are  a  people 
despised  by  the  higher  castes  such  as  the  Brahmans 
and  Nairs,  who,  whenever  they  required  money,  inva¬ 
riably  looked  to  these  classes,  whence  to  obtain  it. 
Always  destitute  of  literature,  both  sacred  and 
profane,  they  were  not  solicitous  of  education.  Fear¬ 
ful  of  losing  money,  they  often  buried  their  savings. 
Suspicious  of  not  obtaining  justice  from  the  laws  of 


446 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  21. 


the  realm,  they  often  resorted  to  ordeals.  They  were 
not  allowed  to  enter  within  a  native  court  of  justice  as 
they  might  pollute  the  judges  who  were  members  of 
the  higher  castes”.  All  this  may  now  be  classed  as 
pas'  History.  The  high-roads  are  declared  free  for  all. 
There  has  been  a  gradual  elevation  of  the  Tfuvas. 
The  repeal  of  the  poll-tax,  the  abrogation  of  the 
Uliyam  or  impressed  service,  the  liberty  to  attend 
public  offices — all  these  have  conduced  towards  the 
improvement  of  their  community.  Above  all,  the:- 
own  endeavours  to  raise  themselves  up  stand  as 
beacon  light  to  others  still  stuck  in  the  slough  of 
despond.  The  Tluvas  have  recently  organised  a  regk 
tered  association  called  Sri  Narayana  Dharma  Pari' 
palana  Sabha  of  over  1,000  members  with  the  object  of 
working  for  the  religious,  social,  educational  and  ir. 
dustrial  advancement  of  the  caste  in  Malabar,  Cochin 
and  Travancore.  It  has  organised  industrial  exhibitions, 
the  first  of  which  was  opened  in  January  1905  at 
Quilon  in  Travancore  when  agricultural  products  of 
various  kinds  were  exhibited  by  them.  Among  other 
exhibits  there  were  good  specimens  of  ivory  and  cocoa- 
nut  shell  carving.  They  are  establishing  educational 
institutions  and  are  also  organising  Panchayats  or 
arbitration  courts  with  a  view  to  wean  the  litigant  class 
among  them  from  the  evils  of  protracted  litigation  in 
courts  and  consequent  waste  of  money.  There  is  in¬ 
deed  a  bright  future  before  them. 

3.  Coelgoeryp — Malayalam  K^lekurups — who 
are  better  known  as  Vilkurups,  u  e .,  those  who 
make  bows  and  arrows,  shields  and  other  weapons  of 
war.  They  are  also  dyers.  While  some  consider 
them  to  be  below  the  Chogas  in  social  precedence  others 
think  that  the  Chogas  come  a  long  way  after  them.  In 
these  days  of  piping  peace  and  more  especially,  when 
fire  arms  have  superseded  the  primitive  bow  and  arrow 
the  Vilkuf  up  has  lost  his  traditional  occupation  and  has 
taken  to  other  walks  of  life.  The  bow  and  the  arrow 


KANIYAR  KURUPS 


44T 


N.  4»] 

seem  to  have  stood  their  ground  as  military  weapons 
almost  till  the  beginning  of  the  19th  century;  for  we 
read  that  the  irregulars  bf  the  Travancore  Militia  who, 
with  the  Travancore  army,  raised  the  rebellion,  known 
as  the  ‘Nair  war’  in  1809,  were  all  armed  with  these 
weapons.  Even  in  Europe,  it  is  said  that  there  were 
bowmen  in  the  battle  of  Leipsic. 

Pyrard  d  Laval  gives  us  the  following  description 
of  the  shields  made  by  this  class  of  people  for  the  Nsyar 
soldiers  to  be  armed  with.  “These  shields  and  arms 
are  made  by  the  gentle  artizans  and  are  very  beautiful 
being  worked  in  designs  of  all  colours,  gold,  silver,  and 
azure,  varnish  and  lacquer.  They  are  studded,  too, 
with  large  gilt  nails.  The  beautiful  workmanship  of 
this  idolater  Indians  is  indeed  wonderful.  Their  child¬ 
ren  are  taught  to  work  from  the  age  of  five  or  six,  and 
they  have  the  keenest  aptitude  possible,  understanding 
in  but  a  short  time  all  they  see  done.  It  may  be  remarked, 
however,  that  they  follow  their  crafts  from  father 
to  son,  and  marry  their  children  to  others  of  their  own 
condition” 

The  marriage,  funeral  ceremonies,  etc.,  of  the 
Vilkufup  and  the  remaining  classes  akin  to  them  do 
not  differ  much  from  those  of  the  Tluvas  and  therefore 
do  not  require  separate  description. 

There  is  another  kind  of  bow  which  the  Vilkufup 
makes  for  more  peaceful  purposes.  It  is  formed  of  a 
strong  and  slightly  elastic  wood  with  a  small  cord  made 
of  bamboo  materials  and  attached  to  both  ends  of  the 
bow  by  means  of  two  knots,  which  when  played  on  by 
means  of  a  small  stick  produces  a  very  dulcet  musical 
tone.  This  instrument  is  used  by  children  during  the 
O^am  festival  when  companies  of  them  may  be  seen 
singing  and  playing  merrily  on  these  bows.  Experts 
attempt  on  these  even  Tsyampaka. 

4.  Canniargoeryp — Malayalam  Kaiiiysra  Kufup. 
The  prefix  Kaijiyar  is  generally  used  to  designate 


448  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  ax. 

this  class.  From  this  class  come  the  fencing 
masters  who,  besides  being  experts  in  the  use  of 
arms  study  methods  of  shampooing  and  training 
the  body  to  enable  it  to  make  difficult  evolutions.  They 
are  supposed  to  study  anatomy  and  are  held  to  be 
experts  in  setting  right  dislocations,  etc.  The  Kurup 
is  also  known  as  Gurukal  or  teacher. 

5.  Cootady — Malayalam  Kuftati — a  dancer. 

6.  Canianool — Malayalam  Ka^iySn — correctly 
so  named  by  our  author  in  Letter  24.  Other  names  by 
which  the  class  is  known  are:  KagiSan  and  KaniySra 
Pa$ikkan.  Two  different  origins  are  attributed  to  the 
term  KaniySn  each  of  which  is  supposed  to  point  to  the 
origin  of  the  class,  and  each  of  which  is  based  on  a 
legend  of  interest,  having  regard  to  the.  anomaly  of  the 
Kaijiyan’s  position  in  the  caste  scale  and  the  learned 
profession  he  follows.  The  Kaniyans  are  a  polluting 
caste  whose  approach  to  within  36  feet  has  the  effect  of 
defiling  the  higher  classes,  and  yet  there  is  no  import¬ 
ant  occasion  or  incident  in  the  family  life  of  the  Brah¬ 
man,  the  K§hetriya,  or  the  Nayar  at  which  the  presence 
of  this  apparently  degraded  class  is  not  absolutely 
necessary.  This  anomaly  is  accounted  for  by  appeal¬ 
ing  to  their  traditionary  origin.  According  to-  the 
legend  supplied  to  Col.  Mackenzie  and  preserved  in  the 
Mackenzie  Mss.,  the  science  of  Astrology  was  esta¬ 
blished  by  Subramanian,  son  of  the  God  Siva,  with  the 
help  of  Adityar  (the  Sun),  and  the  Brahmans,  as  the 
most  favoured  of  the  gods,  were  initiated  into  the 
mysteries  of  the  new  learning.  It  so  happened  that  on 
one  occasion  Subramanian  was  asked  by  Siva  to  fore¬ 
cast  some  important  incident  in  his  life,  and  the  former 
declared  that  Siva  was  destined  to  become  a  mendicant, 
walking  about  with  the  beggar’s  bowl,  and  soliciting 
alms.  The  father  was  enraged  at  this  and  straightway 
uttered  a  curse  on  the  new  science  that  it  might  be 
discredited.  Subramanian  could  not  endure  this  and 
his  mother  Psrvati  interceded  in  his  behalf  with  her 
irate  husband  and  prevailed  upon  the  God  to  afford  him 


N.  7.]  KANIYANS  449 

some  relief.  It  was  then  decreed  that  the  science  will 

not  become  absolutely  useless  and,  in  order  to  give  it 

some  scope  in  this  world,  Siva  sent  for  the  Gandharva 

ViSwarathan  and  directed  him  to  be  born  on  this  earth 
» 

as  a  Brahman  and  teach  the  science  to  the  denizens  of 
this  sphere  and  form  a  new  caste  of  those  who  take  it. 
The  Gandharva  did  accordingly.  The  incarnate  Brah¬ 
man  married  a  Tulu  Nambi  woman  of  the  Kejtipattu 
Illam  and  had  issue  by  her.  Early  one  morning  as  the 
wife  of  the  Brahman  entered,  with  a  lamp  in  her  hand, 
the  Kalari,  the  place  of  worship,  to  perform  her  devo¬ 
tions,  she  was  astonished  to  see  Siva  himself  emerging 
from  the  Kalari.  Surprised  at  her  appearance  there  at 
so  early  an  hour,  the  God  interrogated  her  as  to  whe¬ 
ther  she  was  not  his  Kani  (i.  e.,  the  first  object  seen 
on  waking  from  sleep)  that  day.  This  was  overheard 
by  her  husband  who  at  once  summoned  the  Brahmans 
of  the  locality  and  informed  them  that  the  woman  was 
a  fallen  woman  and  that  the  inmates  of  the  KettipSttu 
Illam  were  hence  forward  outcastes.  The  family  was 
accordingly  excommunicated,  whereupon  Koupi,  the 
son  of  ViSwaratha  begged  that  the  family  may  be  afford¬ 
ed  some  means  of  livelihood.  The  Brahmans  then 
replied — “Behave  yourself  properly,  look  after  the 
Kalari  and  serve  the  gods  and  goddesses ;  educate  the 
Sudras  and  live  upon  the  income  from  Ayudha  pujah; 
worship  Kandakaman  (a  devil)  and  the  nine  planets 
and  eke  out  a  livelihood  by  the  practice  of  astrology.” 
These  outcastes  were  known  as  KaniySns  and  were 
classed  among  the  lower  castes.  Others  joined  them 
later  on  till  at  last  the  caste  came  to  consist  of  five 
Illams  and  were  known  as  Anjillaksr  or  those  of  the 
five  houses.  The  names  of  these  are  Velamban ,  Peru - 
manat  Vallikaray  Abmadu  and  Nadu . 

The  other  legend  is  no  less  interesting.  According 
to  it, astrology  was  at  first  a  monopoly  of  the  Brahmans, 
and  a  Nampufiri  Brahman  known  as  Palur  Bhattatiri,  a 
great  master  of  the  science,  foreseeing  an  evil  conjunc¬ 
tion  of  the  planets  foreboding  his  disgrace,  forsook  his 

BE. 


450  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21; 

home  and  relatives  and  wandered  abroad  to  avoid  his 
adverse  fate.  But  the  fates  were  relentless  and  pursued 
him  wherever  he  went;  Crossing  the  bed  of  a  stream, 
he  was  carried  away  by  sudden  freshes  into  an  unknown 
region  and  was  thrown  on  the  banks  of  the  stream. 
Scrambling  ashore  in  torrents  of  rain  and  in  darkness, 
he  saw  a  glimmering  light  in  the  distance,  and  at  once 
made  for  it.  Here  he  found  a  lowly  hut  in  the  veranda 
of  which  he  laid  himself  drenched  and  exhausted, 
musing  on  the  untoward  events  of  the  day  and  on  Ris 
affectionate  family  whom  he  had  so  unceremoniously 
left  behind.  The  hut  belonged  to  a  Tiyya  who  had  on 
that  day  quarreled  with  his  wife  and  deserted  her.  The 
sorrow-stricken  woman  was  anxiously  expecting  her 
spouse  to  return  every  moment.  About  mid-night  she 
opened  the  door  of  the  hut  and  seeing  the  man  lying  in 
the  verandah  mistook  him  for  her  husband  and  the  weary 
Brahman  was  so  wrapt  in  his  thoughts  about  his  house 
and  family,  that  he  in  hrs  turn  mistook  the  Tiyya 
woman  for  his  own  wife — so  the  tradition  goes.  In  the 
morning,  the  truth  was  revealed  and  the  Brahman 
accepted  his  degradation  and  lived  with  the  woman 
who  bore  him  a  son.  This  son  the  Brahman  educated 
in  astrology  and  secured  for  him  an  important  place  in 
the  Hindb  constitution  as  Ganakan  or  astrologer  sub¬ 
sequently  corrupted  into  KaniySn  or  Kanisan.  The 
incident  is  alleged  to  have  occurred  at  the  village  of 
Palnr  in  Travancore  where  the  descendants  of  the 
original  Kaniyan  still  live  and  carry  on  their  profession 
of  astrology.  He  is  known  as  the  Palur  Kanuyan  and, 
from  all  Malabar,  people  still  flock  to  his  house  where 
there  is  a  particular  place,  Patippura  or  gatehouse,  set 
apart  as  sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Brahman  proge¬ 
nitor  where  he  is  worshipped  and  where  his  descendant 
still  practises  his  profession. 

Both  the  traditions  place  it  beyond  doubt  that  the 
founder  of  the  caste  was  a  Brahman  who  had  fallen 
from  his  caste  on  account  of  a  misalliance  or  some  mis¬ 
fortune  of  the  kind.  The  science  of  astrology  came 


KANIYANS 


451 


N.  7.] 

henceforward  to  be  studied  exclusively  by  the  Kaniysn 
caste  with  the  result  that  its  professors  soon  came  to 
occupy  an  important  position  in  the  Hindu  constitution. 
It  is  most  probable  that  the  KaniySn’s  profession  will 
survive  all  other  relics  of  the  old  constitution  as  his 
services  are  required  at  every  turn  in  the  life  of  a 
Malayaii  family.  Birth,  marriage,  sickness,  death — he 
is  wanted  at  all  these.  He  has  to  ascertain  the  auspi¬ 
cious  moment  for  starting  on  a  journey,  celebrating  a 
marriage,  sowing  seeds  in  the  fields,  planting  a  tree, 
giving  a  loan,  executing  a  document,  shaving  the  head — 
almost  anything  that  may  be  imagined.  He  has  to  fore¬ 
tell  lucky  days  and  lucky  hours,  cast  horoscopes,  ex¬ 
plain  causes  of  calamities,  prescribe  remedies  for  unto¬ 
ward  events — in  short,  his  work  mixes  him  up  with  the 
gravest  as  well  as  the  most  trivial  of  the  domestic 
events  of  the  people,  and  his  influence  and  position  are 
exceedingly  great.  Of  course,  his  profession  is  a  very 
remunerative  one  and,  though  he  thinks  it  out  of  form 
to  demand  a  fee,  no  one  employs  him  without  paying 
him  something.  His  most  lucrative  business  lies  in 
casting  horoscopes,  recording  in  considerable  detail  the 
events  of  the  man’s  life  from  birth  to  death,  pointing  out 
dangerous  periods  of  life  and  prescribing  rules  and 
ceremonies  to  be  observed  by  individuals  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  propitiating  the  gods  and  planets  and  so  avert¬ 
ing  the  calamities  of  dangerous  times. 

“His  astrology  he  will  tell  you,”  says  Mr. 
Fawcett,  “is  divided  into  three  parts — 

(1)  Ganita  (Ganita),  which  treats  of  constellations; 

(2)  Samkita  (Samkita),  which  explains  the  origin 
of  the  constellations,  comets,  falling  stars,  earthquakes; 

(3)  Hora  (Hora),  by  which  the  fate  of  man  is 
explained.” 

The  KaniySn’s  chief  occupation  is  the  casting  of 
horoscopes. 

“The  Panikkar,  (for  he  is  generally  called  KaniSra 
Pariikkar),  who  follows  in  the  footsteps  of  his  fathers, 
should  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  astrology  and  of 


452  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

mathematics  and  be  learned  in  the  Vedas.  (How  can  a 
low  caste  man  be  expected  to  be  learned  in  the  Vedas 
which  none  but  the  twice-born  can  hear  repeated  but 
on  penalty  of  melted  lead  being  poured  into  the  ears?) 
He  should  be  sound  in  mind  and  body,  truthful  and 
patient.  He  should  look  after  his  family,  and  he  should 
worship  regularly  the  nine  planets:  Suryan — the  sun; 
Chandran — moon;  Chovva — Mars;  Budhan — Mercury; 
Vyaiam,  or  Guru  or  Brhaspati — Jupiter;  Sukran  or 
Sani — Venus;  Rahu  and  Ketu.  The  two  last,  though 
not  visible,  are  oddly  enough,  classed  as  planets  by  the 
Panikkar.  They  are  said  to  be  two  parts  of  an  Asura 
who  was  cut  in  two  by  Vishnu. 

“I  here  produce  a  diagram  made  for  me  by  a 
Panikkar  showing  the  relative  positions  of  the  planets 
on  the  7th  of  April  1895. 


Suryan, 

Budhan 

Sukran 

Chovva 

Brihaspati 

Rahu 

Ketu 

Sani 

Chandran 

N.  B. — Chandran  remains  2\  days  in  each  of  the  12  Rasis  or 
celestial  chambers.”i 

Besides  being  astrologer  he  is  often  the  village 
schoolmaster  also. 

Generally  the  Kaniyan  and  the  castes  akin  to  it 
follow  customs  more  or  less  similar  to  those  of  the 
Chogans  or  Tiyyas.  But,  in  British  Malabar,  the 
Kaniyan’s  marriage  ceremony  assumes  a  more  elaborate 
ceremonial  than  in  the  adjoining  States. 

“The  marriage  and  other  important  ceremonial 
expenses  of  the  village  (desam)  astrologer  and  school- 
1  Museum  Bulletin  Vol.  Ill,  No.  3,  page  305. 


KANIYANS 


453 


N.M 

master  are  always  provided  by  the  people  of  his  village 
and  the  headman  and  others  take  a  proper  pride  in 
celebrating  the  marriage  and  other  ceremonies  in  good 
style.  At  his  wedding,  he  is  decked  out  for  the  occa¬ 
sion  in  valuable  ornaments,  conspicuous  among  which  is 
the  combined  style  (for  writing  on  palmyra  leaves)  and 
knife  which  is  thrust  into  the  girdle,  and  which  is 
highly  embellished  with  inlaid  silver  and  gold  work. 
On  setting  out  on  his  wedding  journey  he  is  accompa¬ 
nied  by  a  party  of  Nayars  as  escort,  who  fire  guns, 
blow  horns  and  beat  tom-toms  as  the  procession  sets 
forth  from  the  bridegroom’s  house,  and  the  same  pro¬ 
ceeding  is  followed  on  arrival  at  the  bride’s  house.  One 
of  the  bride’s  female  relatives,  who  is  styled  E^angafp 
has  a  conspicuous  part  to  play  in  the  ceremony.  She 
seats  the  bride  on  seven  and  a  half  measures  of  white 
rice  spread  on  the  floor.  The  bride  is  either  carried 
or  led  in  by  her  with  her  eyes  closed,  two  betel-leaves 
being  held  firmly  pressed  by  her  against  her  eyelids. 
The  tali  is  placed  round  her  neck  by  the  Enangatti 
while  the  bride  is  seated  on  the  rice,  with  her  back  to 
the  bridegroom,  and  the  bridegroom  knots  the  string 
at  the  back  of  the  bride’s  neck  at  the  precise  moment 
when  a  neighbouring  astrologer  called,  in  for  the  occa¬ 
sion  declares  that  the  moment  is  auspicious.  The 
phrase  he  uses  is  as  follows: — ‘The  auspicious  time  is 
come  and  it  greets  you  with  offers  of  beauty,  long  life, 
wealth,  sweet  wedlock,  posterity,  and  happiness.  Seize 
thou  the  occasion  and  marry  the  bride,  and  posterity 
will  attend  you’.  The  wedding  guests  here  break  in 
with  a  solemn  twang  of  “Aha!  Aha!”  The  tali  string 
is  thereupon  promptly  tied  by  the  bridegroom.  After 
reading  of  a  portion  of  the  Ramayanam,  the  Enangatti 
seats  the  bride  by  the  groom  and  joins  their  hands.  The 
rice  on  which  the  bride  was  seated  becomes  astrologer’s 
fee  with  eight  annas  added  in  money.  The  Ejnangatti  next 
feeds  the  youthful  pair  with  sweets,  and  practises  on  the 
bridegroom  various  little  jokes  while  so  doing.  Finally 
she  comes  behind  the  pair  with  rice  in  both  hands  and 


454  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L>  21. 

sprinkles  it  over  their  heads  with  prayers  and  good 
wishes,  and  this  is  done  in  turn  by  all  the  relations 
beginning  with  the  parents.  The  wedding  ceremony 
concludes  with  the  pair  making  obeisance  to  their 
elders.  The  festivities,  however,  last  for  four  days,  and 
on  the  third  day  the  party  adjourns  to  the  bridegroom’s 
home,  and  on  the  fifth  it  finally  disperses”.1 

Without  the  consent  of  the  people  of  the  village 
the  parties  are  not  permitted  to  divorce  each  other. 
With  this  consent  the  parties  have  simply  to  pronounce 
the  divorce  in  a  caste  assembly.  The  children,  if  any, 
in  that  case  belongs  to  the  father.  They  maintain  that 
widow  marriage  is  forbidden  by  the  customs  of  their 
caste,  but  all  the  same  such  marriages  are  by  no  means 
uncommon. 

Their  system  of  inheritance  is  mostly  Makka{t5> 
yam,  i •  e .,  descent  from  father  to  son,  though  in  parts  of 
South  Malabar  as  well  as  in  other  places  descent  in  the 
female  line  is  to  be  found. 

They  at  one  time  largely  practised  polyandry  of 
the  adelphec  or  fraternal  type  two  or  more  brothers 
marrying  one  wife.  Under  this  arrangement  the  first¬ 
born  child  was  fathered  on  the  eldest  brother,  the 
second  on  the  next  brother  and  so  on. 

Their  peculiar  manners  distinctly  mark  them  out 
as  belonging  to  the  KaijiySn  class  in  the  midst  of  a 
number  of  other  classes.  If  they  happen  to  see  one  of 
the  higher  classes  on  the  roadway,  they  of  course  keep 
off  from  the  path  at  the  prescribed  distance.  Besides 
doing  this,  they  lower  their  cadjan  or  palmyra  leaf  um¬ 
brellas,  bow  down  worshipping  him  of  the  higher  caste 
and  wish  him  by  saying  Nallonam  Varattay — “Let  all 
good  enure  to  you”.  Of  all  Malabar  castes,  the  Kand¬ 
yans  are  said  to  be  endowed  with  the  least  common 
sense,  strange  indeed  for  a  class  which  combines  in 
itself  the  profession  of  the  astrologer  and  the  school¬ 
master,  and  many  droll  stories  are  extant  about  the 

1.  Malabar .  Vol.  I,  pages  141-*. 


455 


N.  S/|  KAKKA  KURA  VAN 

curious  mistakes  they  are  supposed  to  make.  Barbosa 
notices  this  caste  as  “Canion”.  “Their  business”  he 
says,  “is  to  make  shields  and  shades.  They  learn 
letters  and  astronomy  and  some  of  them  are  great 
astrologers”. 

7.  The  Corwas — Malayalam  Kuravars.  These 
seem  to  be  identical  in  race  with  the  Kuranbar 
or  Korava  caste  in  Madras  and  Mysore  and  on  the 
slopes  of  the  Nilgiris  and  closely  allied  to  the  Vgtan 
or  hunting  caste.  The  Odombaerae  of  Megasthenes, 
have  been  taken  by  some  to  represent  the  Kurambers, 
though  Cunningham,  Mac  Crindle  and  others  are  not 
disposed  to  accept  this  identification.  However,  there 
can  be  no  dispute  that  the  Kurambers  made  early 
settlements  in  Malabar  for  they  have  given  their  name 
to  their  local  habitation  in  the  low  country  which  is 
still  called  Kurambarnad  or  Kurambar’s  land,  now  a 
Taluk  of  the  Malabar  Collector  ate.  The  Kufavas  were 
originally,  and  are  to  the  present  day  in  districts  east 
of  the  ghauts,  shepherds  and  herdsmen  and  are  a  preda¬ 
tory  class  who  prefer  a  roving  and  free  life  in  the 
jungles  to  a  sedantry  one  in  subjection  on  the  plains. 
They  are  usually  regarded  as  of  superior  rank  to  the 
huntsmen  who  abound  on  the  slopes  of  the  Western 
Ghauts  and  in  Wynad.  They  are  generally  snake 
charmers  and  carry  with  them  poisonous  snakes  whose 
fangs  they  extract.  These  reptiles  dance  to  their  piping. 
They  are  reputed  to  possess  powerful  and  efficacious 
antedotes  to  snake  poison.  They  wander  about  in 
gangs  and  have  the  evil  reputation  to  belong  to  the  rob¬ 
ber  class  and  are  always  under  the  strict  surveillance  of 
the  Police.  They  are  higher  in  the  caste  system  than 
the  Pulayers,  Paraiars  and  Vedars. 

8.  The  Cuka  Corwas  —  Malayalam  Kskka 
Kuravan-is  a  sub-division  of  the  Kurava  caste.  They 
are  no  other  than  a  variety  of  Kakkslans  and  are  so 
called  because  they  are  said  to  eat  Kskka  (crows), 
vultures,  alligators  and  such  like,  though  they  will  not 
touch  beef.  The  Kskka  Kuravas  are  but  few  in 


456  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  si. 

number,  and  are  chiefly  beggars,  ear-borers, sooth-sayers, 
gymnasts  or  thiefs.  They  often  practise  palmistry. 
They  dress  like  the  Tamilians.  Others  are  called 
Ku^da,  “low  or  mean”  Ku ravers  ;  and  are  in  fact 
slaves.  They  used  to  be  sold  formerly  and  were 
agricultural  labourers  who  are  not  allowed  to  ap¬ 
proach  bazaars  and  market  places  or  to  approach  the 
higher  classes.  These  constitute  the  most  important 
division  and,  like  the  Nsyars,  are  divided  into  Illam, 
Swarupam,  etc.  There  is  no  regular  marriage 
amongst  the  Kufavers,  the  couple  forming  but  tempor¬ 
ary  connexions,  performing  tali  tying  and  Sambandham. 
They  follow  the  MarumakkattSyam  system  of  inheri¬ 
tance.  Divorce  is  permitted  but  only  with  the  permis¬ 
sion  of  the  elders.  They  are  demon  worshippers  who 
have  no  regular  temples.  They  perform  their  devotions 
in  groves  and  having  no  images,  set  up  stones  to  repre¬ 
sent  the  spirit  they  worship.  They  bury  the  dead  and 
observe  pollution  for  16  days. 

9.  The  Poenen  Poeloo.  Malayalam  Parian, 
Puilon.  They  are  usually  known  as  Pullavans. 
The  term  Puliavan  is  said  to  have  its  derivation 
from  Puilu  (a  hawk).  The  Pulluvan  is  said  to 
be  clever  in  remedying  disorders  which  pregnant 
women  and  babies  are  supposed  to  be  subjected 
to  by  the  evil  influence  of  these  birds-  They  trace 
their  origin  to  a  legend  more  or  less  imaginary-  It  is 
given  in  the  chapter  on  Pulluvans  in  the  Cochin  Castes 
and  Tribes .  They  say  that,  when  the  Pa^davas  had  set 
fire  to  the  Kharidava  forest,  in  the  conflagration  of 
which  the  serpent  race  was  almost  extinguished,  a  five- 
hooded  one  flew  in  agony,  half  scalded  and  half  burnt, 
and  fell  somewhere  near  Alleppey.  Two  women,  who 
were  going  to  fetch  water,  chanced  to  pass  by  and  the 
serpent  in  its  agony  requested  them  to  pour  some  water 
on  its  burning  body  and  afford  it  shelter  in  one  of  the 
pots  they  were  carrying.  The  guileless  women  did  as 
requested.  The  serpent  crept  into  one  of  the  pots  and 
would  not  go  in  spite  of  their  entreaties.  They  removed 


PANAN  DANCE 


> 


■ 


■  i 


'S, 

£ 


PULLUVANS  WITH  THEIR  MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS. 


t'ULLUVANS 


457 


N.  o.] 

the  pot  with  the  reptile  in  it  and  shut  it  up  in  a  room 
to  the  west  of  their  house.  A  week  nassed  and  the 

x. 

husband  of  the  woman  in  whose  room  the  pot  was 
kept  opened  the  room  on  returning  from,  where  he  had 
gone.  He  was  surprised  to  see  an  ant-hill  in  the 
middle  of  the  room  with  a  gaping  mouth.  He  broke 
down  the  ant-hill  and  the  snake  bit  him  and  he  died 
at  once.  The  bereaved  wife  was  inconsolable  as  she 
was  left  without  any  means  of  support,  and  the  snake 
devised  a  plan  by  which  she  could  find  her  livelihood 
without  difficulty.  She  was  asked  to  go- to  every 
house  with  a  Puliuva  Kutam  or  Puiluvan’s  pot  singing 
a  song  which  she  was  assured  would  procure  immunity 
from  annoyance  from  snakes.  She  did  so  and  she  was 

well  received.  Ever  after  the  Puiluvan  and  Puiluvatti 

•  • 

go  1  about  with  their  Puiluva  Kutam  reciting  the  ^itty 
taught  by  the  serpent  and  every  house  owner  gladly 
gives  them  alms. 

The  caste  has  no  sub-division,  but  the  Puiiuvans 
say  that  they  originally  formed  31  families  and  that  the 
members  of  the  caste  are  all  descended  from  those 
families.  It  is  said  that  in  former  times  the  Pulluvans 
used  to  marry  their  sisters,  but  the  practice  is  unheard 
of  at  present. 

They  observe  and  perforift  ceremonies  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  attainment  of  maturity  in  girls,  marri- 
age,  pregnancy  and  child  birth. 

When  a  girl  attains  puberty,  she  is  bathed  on  the 
seventh  day  till  which  she  is  confined  to  a  room  in  the 
house.  At  the  bath  in  the  morning,  seven  damsels 
make  offerings  to  the  demons  as  if  the  girl  is  possessed 
of  them.  These  consist  of  a  triangle  formed  of  the 
plantain  bark  on  which  are  stuck  small  torches  and 
bits  of  the  tender  leaves  of  the  cocoanut  palm.  This 
is  waved  over  the  girl’s  head  several  times  and  then 
floated  in  water.  The  triangle  is  called  Bali  Patam . 
After  thus  relieved  of  the  evil  influence  of  the  demons, 

BF. 


458  LETTERS  FROM,  MALABAR  [L:  31  • 

she  is  taken  home  where  relatives  and  friends  are  fed 
sumptuously  according  to  the  means  of  the  parents- 

The  Tali  marriage,  which  of  course  is  not  the 
real  marriage,  may  take  place  before  or  after  puberty. 
It  is  said  that  this  is  not  considered  to  be  an  indis- 
pensible  ceremony  and  that  many  fail  to  celebrate  it. 
However,  when  it  is  performed,  an  auspicious  day  is 
chosen  on  which  the  father  of  the  girl  invites  his 
nephew  or  some  relative  of  his  to  tie  the  tali  round  her 
neck.  The  couple  bathe  and  worship  in  the  nearest 
temple  on  the  fourth  day  of  the  ceremony  after  which 
comes  the  Achcharam  Kotukkal,  i .  c.\  the  making  of  a 
present  of  a  cloth  or  a  few  annas  to  the  so-called  bride¬ 
groom  and  dismissing  him. 

The  real  marriage  follows  the  above  ceremony. 
An  auspicious  day  is  selected  on  which  the  parents  of 
the  bridegroom  produce  the  tali  and  the  wedding  dress* 
At  the  auspicious  hour,  the  bridegroom  accompanied 
by  his  friends  and  relatives  come  to  the  Pandal  erected 
for  the  occasion.  The  bride  neatly  dressed  is 
brought  thither  and  the  tali  tying  takes  place.  A  feast 
follows  and  each  guest  .makes  a  small  'present  in  money 
which  is  put  into  a  plate  placed  for  the  purpose.  The 
couple  then  leave  for  the,  bridegroem’s  house.  The 
other  ceremonies  they  observe  are  in  imitation  of  the 
higher  classes. 

Their  dress  and  ornaments  are  very  simple. 
Chetpmoni,  an  ornament  worn  round  the  neck,  and 
Mukkutti  or  the  nose-screw  and  tcda  for  the  ears  with 

•  •  9  9 

a  piece  of  cloth  tied  round  the  loins  complete  their  out¬ 
fit.  The  women  wear  their  hair  gathered  in  a  knot  on 
the  top  of  the  head  slightly  inclined  to  the  right  hand 
corner  of  the  forehead.  The  males  dress  like  the  Iluvas. 

A  Puiluva  husband  can  divorce  his  wife  for  adul¬ 
tery,  sterility,  immodesty,  disobedience  or  loquacity. 
He  must  in  that  case  leave  her  in  charge  of  her 
parents.  The  couple  may  separate  by  mutual  consent. 
Each  side  has  the  right  of  repudiation  or  divorce.  If 
divorce  is  effected  at  the  instance  of  the  parents  of  the 


PULLUVANS 


459 


N.  9.] 

woman,  they  give  the  husband  a  piece  of  cloth  which 
is  called  Murikotukkuka.  The  children  sometimes 
follow  the  father  and  sometimes  the  mother. 

As  a  rule  they  possess  little  or  no  property-  So 
there  is  little  use  of  enquiring  into  their  law  of  inheri¬ 
tance.  Still  they  may  be  said  to  follow  the  Makka- 
ttSyam  system.  All  disputes  arising  in  the  caste 
whether  from  conjugal  differences  or  not  are  settled  at 
caste  assemblies  known  as  Parishas  the  members  of 
which  are  known  as  Parishakkar .  They  enforce  their 
decision  by  levy  of  fines,  by  excommunication  from 
caste,  etc. 

They  profess  to  follow  the  Hindu  .religion  and 
worship  the  deities  of  the  Brahman  temples  from 
a  distance,  not  being  allowed  to  approach  them  lest 
they  may  defile  the  temples  by  atmospheric  pollu¬ 
tion.  They  believe  in  spirits  and,  in  addition  to  the 
adoration  of  the  demons  and  lesser  spirits,  they  worship 
their  ancestors  also.  They  offer  boiled  rice,  parched 
rice,  plantain  flowers  and  cocoa.nuts  to  the  lesser  deities 
while  they  propitiate  the  demons  by  sacrificing  at  their 
altar  sheep,  fowls,  etc. 

The  ancestors  are  remembered,  worshipped  and 
their  assistance  supplicated  on  certain  specified  occa¬ 
sions,  such  as  on  all  new  moon  days,  Sankranti  in'the 
months  of  Karkatakam  and  Tulam,  etc.  On  these  days 
offerings  of  mutton,  fowls,  toddy  and  other  preparations 
are  spread  on  a  plantain  leaf  at  which  they  prostrate 
themselves  and  pray  to  the  souls  of  the  departed  in 
this  wise:  “Ye  dead  ancestors,  we  offer  what  we  can 
afford.  May  ye  take  them  and  be  pleased  to  protect 
us.*’ 

The  Puiiuvans  bury  their  dead  either  near  a  river¬ 
side  or  in  a  retired  spot  not  far  from  their  habitation. 
They  observe  death  pollution  for  15  days  during  which 
they  offer  rice-ball  oblations  to  the  spirit  of  the  deceased. 
On  the  1 6th  day  they  purify  themselves  and  invite, 
friends  and  relatives  to  a  feast.  Their  priest  is  one  of 
their  own  caste. 


460  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21, 

10.  These  four  castes. — These  four  classes, 
namely  Kaniyan,  Kuravan,  Kskkakuravan  and  Pulloan, 
affect  to  profess  sorcery,  witchcraft  and  practise  them 
to  a  large  extent*  J  n  fact  they  earn  their  livelihood,  as 
our  author  tells  us,  by  exorcisms,  jugglery,  snake 
charming,  etc.  Noticing  the  last  class,  Barbosa  says, 
“they  are  great  practisers  of  witchcraft  and  they  do  not 
gain  their  living  by  anything  else  than  charms.'1 
Malabar  is  par  excellence  the  country  of  magic  and  of 
the  black  art.  Those  who  profess  to  practise  these  are 
by  no  means  confined  to  the  lower  classes.  There  are 
past  masters  of  the  art  among  the  Nambutiris  them¬ 
selves  some  of  whom  claim  to  be  hereditary  professors 
of  the  art. 

11.  The  Macquaas. —  Malayalam  Mukkuvan, 
a  ‘diver*.  These  are  fishermen  by  profession  and  in¬ 
habit  the  sea  coast.  Classes  akin  to  this  are  the  Valans 
and  Arayans  who  ply  their  trade  in  the  backwaters. 
They  also  employ  themselves  as  boatmen,  while  the 
Mukkavars,  in  addition  to  fishing,  do  the  work  of 
bearers  or  porters,  carrying  loads  for  travellers.  Some 
of* them  go  by  the  name  of  Marakksns.  Among  their 
own  community  in  the  Cochin  State,  they  distinguish 
themselves  by  four  distinctive  appellations;  such  as 
Sankhaiii  Bharatan>  Ammukkavan  and  Mukkavan .  The 
Arayans,  called  also  Katalarayans  (sea  Arayans)>belong 
to  the  first  group.  The  Vslans  are  of  the  Bharatan 
group.  Ammukkavans  are  a  sub-caste  of  Katalarayans 
doing  priestly  functions  to  both  Valans  and  Arayans. 
They  recognise  four  Illams  or  houses  among  them, 
perhaps  clans. 

The  Mukkavans  have  been  noticed  as  early  as 
A.D.  1409  by  Ma  Huan,  the  Chinese  traveller.  Speaking 
of  Cochin,  he  observes  that  they  formed  the  lowest  and 
poorest  in  the  country.  “The  Mukkuvas  live  in  houses 
which  are  forbidden  of  the  Government  to  be  more 
than  three  feet  high  and  they  are  not  allowed  to  wear 
*ong  garments;  when  abroad,  if  they  happen  to  meet* a 


MUKKUVAN 


461 


N,  ii.] 

Nair  or  a  Chetti  they  at  once  prostrate  themselves  on 
the  ground  and  dare  not  rise  until  they  have  passed  by; 
these  Mukuvas  get  their  living  by  fishing  and  carrying 
burden”. 

Nicolo  Conti  also  mentions  the  fishermen  of  Cochin 
but  with  him,  as  we  have  found,  they  were  extraordinary 
beings  belonging  more  to  the  mermaid  class  than  to  the 
human  species.  Varthema  observes,  “the  fourth  class 
are  called  Mechua  and  fhese  are  fishers”.  With  Bar¬ 
bosa  “these  (Mucoa)  are  fishermen  and  mariners  with¬ 
out  other  business.”  But  he  mentions  another  class 
whom  he  designates  “Moguer”  who  “are  people  who 
transport  the  King’s  property  from  one  place  to  another 
when  he  moves”.  He  adds  that  they  are  mariners  and 
fishermen  and  they  are  “slaves  of  the  Kings,  Nairs  and 
Brahmans”.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  is  referring 
to  the  same  class  under  different  names.  The 
“Moguers”  of  Barbosa  were  perhaps  those  foreign 
fishermen,  some  of  whom  spoke  Canarese  and  others 
Malayalam.  The  Mukkavas  are  still  carriers  used  by 
travellers  to  carry  burdens  for  them.  The  recent  deve¬ 
lopment  of  easy  means  of  communication  has  superseded 
ancient  modes  of  carriage.  Ibn  Batuta,  in  1324,  says 
that  “when  the  nobles  pass  from  place  to  place  they 
ride  in  a  dula  (Mai:  Doli)  made  of  wood  something  like 
a  box  and  which  is  carried  upon  the  shoulders  of  slaves 
and  hirelings”.  Five  centuries  later,  Col.  Welsh,  tra¬ 
velling' in  Malabar  in  1818,  had  to  be  carried  in  a 
similar  contrivance  which  he  describes,  in  this  Remini - 
scenes^  as  “a  rude  misshapen  box,  an  awkward  and 
unseemingly  structure,  so  made  as  to  have  a  square 
frame  over  the  head  and  placed  on  an  oblong  platform, 
projecting  about  two  feet  in  front,  to  form  a  foot  broad 
and  from  the  front  of  this  platform  two  upright  supports 
are  carried  to  the  frame  above,  over  which  is  fixed  an 
enormous  mat  umbrella,  without  a  handle;  and  to  finish 
the  concern  two  thick  bamboos  about  7  feet  long  are 
attached  horizontally  on  either  side  of  the  seat,  for  the 
purpose  of  carrying.  The  rider  of  this  veritable  bone- 


462  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  2j. 

setter  gets  in  by  the  front.  The  Mukkavas,  being 
the  fishermen  of  the  coast,  are  the  bearers,  and  four  of 
them  in  regular  service  will  carry  a  person  about  the 
station  and  do  little  jobs  besides*  They  carry  on  their 
shoulders  and  in,  changing  with  a  preconcerted  signal, 
they  lift  the  chair  over  the  heads  and  bring  it  down  with 
a  sudden  jerk  on  the  opposite  shoulder* ,  the  most  un¬ 
pleasant  and  sea-sickening  motion  I  ever  experienced 
and,  if  one  of  them  stumble  on  going  over  stony  or 
pough  ground,  the  rider  may  get  a  fall,  easier  imagined 
than  described.”  But  these  were  not  the  only  con¬ 
veyances  used  in  Malabar.  The  Manjal^  a  kind  of 
hammock-litter,  used  on  the  coast  is  thus  described 
by  Correa;  (A.  D.  1561).  “He  came  to  the  factory  in  a 
litter  which  men  carried  on  their  shoulders.  These  are 
made  with  thick  canes  bent  upward  and  arched,  and 
from  them  are  suspended  some  cloths  half  a  fathom  in 
width,  and  a  fathom  and  a  half  in  length  and  at  the 
extremities  pieces  of  wood  to  sustain  the  cloth  hanging 
from  the  pole;  and  upon  this  cloth  a  mattress  of  the 
same  size  as  the  cloth  *  *  the  whole  very  splendid 
and  as  rich  as  the  gentlemen  *  *  may  desire.”1  Col: 
Welsh  gives  almost  the  same  description  of  the  manjal 
of  his  day  and  adds,  ‘‘six  men  will  run  with  one  from 
one  end  of  the  Malabar  coast  to  the  other,  while  12  are 
necessary  for  the  lightest  palanquin”2.  The  Manjal  as 
the  lightest  of  the  two  has  stood  its  ground  even  to 
this  day,  and  the  descendants  of  the  Mukkuvas  who 
carried  Ibn  Batuta  and  Col:  Welsh  are  ready  to-day  to 
carry  any  traveller  for  hire. 

Purchas  (A.  D.  1626)  says.  “The  Muchoa  or 
Mechoe  are  fishers,  dwelling  in  villages  by  themselves; 
the  men  thieves,  the  women  harlots,  with  whom  they 
please’’3.  Alexander  Hamilton  speaks  of  them  as 
“Mukkuvas  or  fishers,  who  I  think  are  a  higher  tribe 

1.  Three  Voyages ,  p.  199. 

2  Vol.  2,  p.  142 

3.  Purchas  Pilgrimage ,  p.  553.  The  latter  part  is  not 
correct;  at  any  rate,  not  now. 


N.  n.J 


MUKKUVAN 


463 


than  the  Poulias”.'  Norbert  in  1745  refers  to  them  as 
“the  Macoas  a  kind  of  Malabars:  who  have  specially 
this  business  (that  of  fishing)  and  as  we  might  say  the 
exclusive  privilege  in  all  that  concerns  sea-farming’’.2 
The  Malayalam  Mukkuvar  is  also  found  on  the  Canarese 
Coast.  There  they  are  divided  into  four  exogamous 
septs  or  Illams  called  Ponnillam ,  Chembillam ,  Kachii- 
lam  and  K aril  lam. 

The  Mukkuvas  naturally  confine  themselves  to  the 
sea-coast  and  are  to  be  found  in  great  numbers  on  the 
Travancore  Coast  and  towards  the  north  but  are  not 
so  numerous  in  Cochin  where  their  place  is  taken  by 
Ratal  Arayans  who  belong  perhaps  to  the  same  section 
but  bear  a  different  name.*  The  labours  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Missionary,  St.  Francis  Xavier,  were  almost 
confined  to  the  Mukkuvas  of  the  Malabar  and  the 
Paravars  of  the  Coromandel  Coasts  and  he  reaped  a 
plentiful  harvest  among  them.  A  vast  majority  of  the 
Latin  Christians  inhabiting  the  Western  Coast  come 
from  this  class  and,  as  one  passes  along  the  sea-shore, 
one  sees  churches  aud  chapels  dotting  the  coast  all  along 
the  line  near  one  another.  “Those  who  gave  the  best 
reception  to  the  Gospel”  says  Lucenna  in  his  Life  of 
Xavier ,  “were  the  Macoas;  and  as  they  had  no  church 
in  which  to  assemble  they  did  so  in  the  fields  and  on 
the  shores  and  with  such  fervour  that  the  Father  found 
himself  at  times  with  5,000  or  6,000  souls  about  him”. 
In  the  1 8th  century,  Fra  Bartolomeo  calculates  that 
“there  were  75  Churches  of  the  Muckavas  and  Paravas 
on  the  Travancore  Coast  and  there  were  20  Churches 
belonging  to  the  Latin  ritual  lying  between  Poracaud 
and  Cape  D’llly.  These  Churches  mustered  about 
100,000  Christians  newly  converted  to  the  Romish 
faith”.3 

Valans  and  Arayans.  These  too  are  not  want¬ 
ing  in  tracing  their  origin  to  a  legend.  Their  tradition 

1,  Vol-  1,  page 

2,  Vol.  1,  pp.  227-8. 

3,  Vol.  1,  p.  117. 


464  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

is  that,  while  the  God  Siva  and  his  spouse  PjJrvati  were 
crossing  a  brook,  Siva  lost  a  ring  he  wore  on  his 
finger.  The  God  created  a  man  from  the  thigh  of 
Parvati  and  he  at  once  plunged  into  the  water  and 
brought  up  the  ring.  Siva  then  ordained  that  he  and 
his  descendants  should  henceforward  make  their  living 
by  labouring  in  the  water.  Hence  their  occupation  of 
fishing. 

These  sub-castes  are  distinct  from  the  Mukkuvans 
and  Marakkans  before  mentioned.  In  certain  import¬ 
ant  respects  they  differ  also  from  one  another.  The 
Valans  assume  an  air  of  superiority  over  the  Arayans 
and  attribute  it  to  the  distinction  conferred  on  them  by 
one  of  the  Perumals  or  early  kings  of  Malabar  in 
selecting  their  ancestors  for  his  boat  service.  The 
Valans  are  generally  regarded  as  possessing  a  higher 
status  than  the  Arayans  and  do  enjoy  certain  special 
privileges.  The  two  divisions  do  not  generally  inter¬ 
mess  or  intermarry.  Yet  it  is  significant  that  it  is  a 
sub-caste  of  the  Arayans  who  minister  priestly  func¬ 
tions  to  the  Valans  as  well.  Among  Valans  the  division 
into  Illams  or  families  or  houses  appertain.  There 
are  four  exogamous  divisions  or  Illams ,  Alayakad , 
Eunalu ,  Vaisya ,  gireyam  and  Vazhapilly .  These 
divisions  the  Valans  say  arose  from  the  various  families 
composing  them  having  originally  been  attached  to  four 

Nambutiri  Illams  or  even  descended  from  them.  To 
•  » 

keep  up  this  tradition,  or  perhaps  in  memory  of  it, 
when  afflicted  with  family  calamities,  they  still  visit  the 
respective  Illams  with  presents  and  offerings  and 
receive  blessings  from  the  Nambutiris.  Though  this 
may  lend  some  colour  to  the  tradition,  it  has  to  be 
observed  that  the  division  of  a  caste  or  section  into 
Illams  is  no  exclusive  peculiarity  of  the  Valans.  Among 
the  lower  classes  even  the  Mukkavas  and  Pulayas  are 
so  divided.  There  are  the  Nalillakkar  among  the 
Mukkavas  and  the  Pattillakkar  among  the  Pulayas. 
Perhaps  the  Illams  correspond  to  the  Gotras  of  the 


MUKKUVAN 


465 


N.  ii.] 

higher  caste  and  point  to  a  common  origin  or  clan¬ 
ship. 

Each  class  has  its  own  head-man  styled  Arayan  or 
honorifically  Aravar  who  derives  his  authority  from 
the  Raja  or  local  chief.  In  Cochin  he  is  appointed  by 
a  Tltturam  or  royal  writ  issued  by  the  Raja  defining 
his  authority  and  securing  to  him  certain  special  privi¬ 
lege  and  perquisites. 

The  Aravar  appoints  Ponambans  (lit:  road-bearers) 
subordinate  to  him  as  sub-heads  over  each  village, 
de$am  or  Katavu.  (literally,  landing-place).  These 
heads  exercise  great  authority,  and  their  influence  is 
such  that  the  community  still  submits,  to  their  arbitra¬ 
tion,  disputes,  civil  and  criminal,  in  spite  of  the  existence 
of  duly  constituted  courts  and  tribunals.  For  all  social 
functions,  matrimonial,  funeral,  etc.,  their  permission 
has  to  be  obtained  and  paid  for.  On  these  occasions, 
the  head-men  have  to  be  approached  with  presents  in 
money,  betel-leaf  and  sometimes  rice  and  paddy.  The 
Ponambans  have  also  to  be  paid  certain  perquisites  on 
ceremo'nial  occasions.  These  have  to  carry  out  the 
directions  of  the  head-men  regarding  the  conduct  of 
all  ceremonies. 

The  head-man  in  Cochin  of  the  sea-fishermen  is 
also  styled  Valia  Aravan,  and  the  Tltturam  granted 
to  him  directs  him  to  preside  over  the  community, 
realise  the  perquisities  of  his  and  see  that  the  sea-fisher- 
men  render  proper  service  at  the  Port  of  Malippuram. 

In  virtue  of  his  office,  the  Valia  Aravan  has  to 
lead  the  way  as  escort  in  a  snake  boat  whenever  the 
Raja  travels  in  the  backwaters.  He  has  to  find  the 
requisite  number  of  boatmen  when  the  Maharaja,  the 
Governor,  the  British  Resident  and  others  travel  along 
the  backwaters.  It  is  also  his  peculiar  privilege  much 
prized  by  the  community,  to  be  the  first  to  obtain 
audience  with  the  successor  of  a  demised  Maharaja  or 
Rj$i  of  Cochin.  He  is  the  first  to  present  his  Jiru- 

mulkalcha  or  Nuzzer  to  the  new  Sovereign,  which 

BO. 


466  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

consists  of  a  small  quantity  of  salt  packed  in  a  plantain 

leaf  and  tied  round  with- coir-rope  and  a  gold  coin 

generally  a  Venetian  sequin.  Our  author  himself 

mentions  this  in  his  8th  letter.  But  he  speaks  of  a 

golden  fish,  a  silver  net  and  an  earthern  dish  containing 

sand  and  salt.  The  head-man  of  the  caste  in  Travan- 

core  is  also  called  Aravan  and  has  a  sword  of  honour 

* 

and  authority  presented  by  the  Maharaja.  He  too  has 
to  escort  Royal  parties  journeying-along  the  backwaters. 

The  Valans  observe  the  tali  marriage  and  the 
real  marriage  like  the  Nsyars  and  the  Tluvas  while, 
with  the  Arayans,  the  two  ceremonies  come  on  together. 
The  Valans  perform  the  tali  ceremony  before  the  girl 
attains  maturity,  while  the  Arayans  have  both  ceremonies 
together  after  puberty.  In  both  ceremonies  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  must  belong  to  different  Illams.  In 
'J'alikettu  Kaliyanam,  as  soon  as  an  auspicious  day  is 
fixed,  the  girl’s  relatives  go  to  the  head-man  to  seek  his 
permission  with  a  small  present.  On  granting  per¬ 
mission,  he  issues  orders  to  the  Ponamban  of  the 
Katavu  to  see  that  the  ceremony  is  properly  con¬ 
ducted.  The  Ponamban,  the  bridegroom  and  at  least 
four  men  of  the  Katavu  go  to  the  house  of  the  bride. 
At  the  appointed  hour,  the  Ponamban  and  the  men  of 
the  two  Katavus  assemble  and  the  unseen  presence  of 
the  head-man  is  recognised  by  the  deposit  of  a  few 
annas  and  a  bundle  of  betel  leaf  with  areca  nuts  at  a 
particular  place  in  the  assembly.  The  tali  is  then 
handed  over  by  the  priest  to  the  bridegroom  who  ties 
it  round  the  neck  of  the  bride  amidst  the  acclamation 
of  those  assembled.  The  festivities  last  for  a 
couple  of  days.  This  is  by  way  of  preliminary  to  the 
real  marriage  which  follows  and  which  is  more  cere¬ 
monial  in  its  nature.  It  is  thus  described  in  the  Cochin 
Census  Report .  “The  maternal  uncle  or  father  of  a 
Valan  first  visits  the  girl,  and  if  he  approves  of  the 
match  for  his  nephew  or  son,  the  Illam  is  ascertained 
and  the  astrologer  consulted  to  assure  themselves  that 


VALA  MARRIAGE  PARTY. 


MUKKUVAN 


467 


N.  xi.] 

the  horoscopes  agree.  If  astrology  does  not  stand  in 
the  way,  they  forthwith  proceed  to  the  girl's  house, 
where  they  are  feasted.  The  bride’s  relatives  then 
return  the  visit  to  the  bridegroom’s  house,  where  they 
likewise  entertained.  The  two  parties  then  fix  a  day 
for  formal  declaration  of  the  proposed  union.  On  that 
day,  a  Valan  from  the  bridegroom’s  Katavu,  seven  to 
nine  elders  and  the  Ponamban  go  .-to  .the  house  of  the 
Ponamban  under  whom  the  bride  is,  and,  in  the  pre¬ 
sence  of  the  assembled  multitude,  a  Valan  from  each 
party  deposits  on  a  plank  6  and  4  puthans  respectively 
and  betel  leaf  in  token  of  Enangumat'tfam  or  exchange 
of  a  co-caste  man  from  each  party  for  the  due  fulfil¬ 
ment  of  the  contract  thus  publicly  entered  into.  They 
then  fix  the  date  of  marriage  and  retire  after  a  sump¬ 
tuous  meal  from  the  bride’s  house.  On  the  appointed 
day, the  bridegroom’s  party  proceed  to  the  bride’s  house 
with  two  pieces  of  cloth,  4  to  32  puthans,  rice,  betel- 
leaf,  etc.  The  bride  is  dressed  in  the  new  cloth  and 
decked  with  such  ornaments  as  she  can  afford.  One 
piece  of  cloth,  rice,  money,  etc.,  are  given  to  the  would- 
be  mother-in-law  and  after  the  usual  feasts  the  bridal 
party  returns  to  the  bridegroom’s  house  which  is  entered 
at  an  auspicious  hour.  They  are  received  at  the  gate 
with  a  lighted  lamp  and  a  vessel  of  water.  Water  is 
sprinkled  on  the  married  couple.  After  their  feet  being 
washed,  they  are  welcomed  in  by  the  seniors  of  the 
house.  They  are  then  given  sweets.  With  the  usual 
feasts  the  ceremony  closes.”  1 

Divorce  can  be  effected  only  with  -the  sanction  of 
the  headman  whose  fee  on  such  occasions  ranges  from 
16  to  120  Puthans  i.  e.  13  as.  4  p.  10  6  Rs.  4  as., 
according  to  the  means  of  the  party  applying.  The  sanc¬ 
tion  of  course  presupposes  an  enquiry  into  the  causes 
alleged  for  the  divorce.  If  dissolution  is  allowed,  the 
Aravan  issues  his  writ  and  the  person  obtaining  it, 
whether  man  or  woman,  has  to  pay  a  few  annas  to  the 


1.  Pages  171-2. 


468  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

castemen  of  the  Katavu  he  or  she  may  belong  to.  A 
widow  has  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Aravan  before 
she  remarries. 

As  regards  marriage  and  divorce,  there  is  but 
little  difference  between  the  Vslan  and  the  Arayan. 
The  latter  have  their  own  Aravan  or  headman  and 
Ponamban  exercising  similar  functions  as  the  head-man 
of  the  Vslans.  To  them  they  owe  social  allegiance 
and  pay  customary  dues  on  ceremonial  occasions. 

While  the  Vslans  follow  a  mixed  form  of  inheri¬ 
tance,  the  Arayans  observe  MakkattSyam.  The  Valans 
divide  their  self*acquired  property  equally  among  their 
nephews  or  Anantravans  and  sons.  They  have  but 
little  property  which  they  can  call  their  own,  being  but 
day  labourers  and  fishermen,  acquiring  something  suf¬ 
ficient  for  the  needs  of  the  day  and  eking  out  a  some¬ 
what  miserable  existence.  But  it  is  delightful  to  note 
that  there  are  signs  to  their  advancement  in  life.  A 
few  have  acquired  landed  property  and  have  taken  to 
agricultural  pursuits.  The  Valans  observe  birth  and 
death  pollution  for  13  and  Arayans  11  days. 

Their  traditional  occupation  is  fishing  and  boat 
service.  In  view  of  this,  they  invariably  live  in  small 
wretched  huts  on  the  shores  of  the  backwaterjs  which 
abound  in  fish.  Their  food  is  scanty,  their  dress  unclean 
and  extremely  poor.  The  women  can  ill  afford  to  wear 
ornaments  of  gold  or  silver  and  wear  but  a  loin  cloth 
with  a  small  one  on  the  shoulders,  but  not  covering 
the  breast  which  would  offend  custom.  In  these  days 
one  could  see  a  change  for  the  better  among  them. 
The  women  engage  themselves  in  a  small  way  in 
spinning  coir  yarn,  buying  green  cocoanut  husks  from 
the  farmers.  The  men  fish  in  the  backwaters,  not  in 
the  sea,  using  large  nets  which  catch  the  fish  at  the 
ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide  as  it  affects  the  backwaters, 
and  raising  the  nets  every  night  to  gather  the  fish. 
They  tie  their  nets  to  the  fishing  stakes  in  various 
parts  of  the  lagoons  which  in  former  days  were  rent 


MARARS  WITH  THEIR  INSTRUMENTS 


MUKKUVAN 


469 


N.  n.J 

free.  While  the  males  .  catch  fish,  the  females  carry 
them  to  the  market  for  sale.  The  nets  are  of  cotton- 
thread  of  their  own  mal£e  and  repaired  by  themselves. 
The  most  they  get  at  a  haul  is  worth  but  a  quarter  of 
a  Rupee.  They  are  addicted  to  drinking  and  often¬ 
times  waste  the  little  they  acquire  on  drink. 

The  other  occupation  they  follow  is  that  of  boat 
service.  They  are  employed  to  row  boats  for  travellers, 
also  to  carry  goods  in  baggage  boats.  They  are  as  a 
class  expert  rowers  capable  of  great  endurance.  They 
are  great  at  boat  racing.  Malabar  is  intersected  by  so 
many  canals,  rivers,  creeks,  and  lagoons  that  water 
communication  between  long  distances  is  readily  avail¬ 
able.  In  fact  in  certain  localities  that  is  the  only  means 
of  communication.  In  the  Kuttanad,  in  Travancore 
u  e .,  the  tract  round  Alleppy  and  Ambalapuzhay,  with¬ 
out  the  use  of  tiny  canoes  a  few  feet  in  length  and 
lightly  paddled  by  a  single  individual,  it  is  impossible 
to  go  about  or  even  to  get  out  of  one’s  house. 

The  boats  in  general  use  are: — (i)  cabin  boats  for 
the  use  of  the  better  classes,  (2)  long  narrow7  canoes  for 
ordinary  passengers,  (3)  slower  baggage  boats  for 
heavy  merchandise.  These  are  employed  on  the  line  on 
traffic  from  north  to  south  along  the  backwaters  and 
the  junction  canals.  On  the  sea  coast  there  are  fish¬ 
ing  canoes  and  rafts. 

The  cabin  boats  are  a  sort  of  house-boats  com¬ 
paratively  large,  comfortable  things  swift  in  their  pass¬ 
age  and  invaluable  to  travellers.  They  ply  on  the 
backwaters  and  can  go  up  most  of  the  rivers  also- 
Built  of  teak,  3nnili7  and  jackwood,  they  last  long 
and  require  only  frequent  oiling  and  painting. 
They  are  usually  about  30  feet  long  and  6  feet 
in  beam.  In  the  front  half  of  the  boat  are  sears 
for  10  to  16  rowers;  the  stern  part  is  covered  in  as 
a  little  cabin  with  wooden  roof,  windows,  doors  and 
seats,  which  latter  are  more  frequently  fitted  with 
planks  so  as  to  make  a  level  floor  on  which  the 


470  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

mattresses  are  spread  for  reclining  or  sleeping,  while 
boxes  and  other  luggage  are  neatly  arranged  un¬ 
derneath  the  seats.  A  second  little  box-cabin,  with  a 
necessary  compartment  and  other  accommodation  are 
frequently  attached  for  females  and  children  or  ser¬ 
vants.  Seats  are  sometimes  placed  on  the  top  of  the 
cabin  with  an  awning  to  protect  oneself  from  the  rays 
of  the  sun.  The  steersman  who  sometimes  goes  by 
the  name  of  Marakkan  or  Srang  occupies  one  seat 
outside  the  cabin  door  while  a  servant  may  occupy 
the  other.  The.  steersman  is  often  the  owner  of  the 
boat.  The  Valans  ply  the  oars  which  they  pull  lustily 
and  as  a  relief  indulge  in  boat  songs.  The  paddles 
are  of  bamboo  with  a  flat  saucer  shaped  piece  of  wood 
secured  at  the  end  of  each.  An  awning  can  bespread 
over  the  rowers  in  the  heat  of  the  day  to  ward  off  the 
sun.  From  their  youth  the  Valans  and  Arayans  learn 
the  songs  and  many  of  the  class  are  said  to  be  toler¬ 
able  versifiers  able  to  extemporise  songs.  One  man 
leads  off  by  singing  the  first  line,  and  then  all  the  rest 
take  it  up  and  sing  after  him  in  chorus  and  so  on  for 
every  line  of  the  song. 

The  effect  produced  in  the  mind  of  a  European 
new  to  thes^  songs  is  thus  described  by  the  Rev.  J. 
O’Connel  in  the  pages  of  the  Malabar  Quarterly  Review. 
“We  approached  Ernakulam  by  Trichur  and  the  long 
chain  of  lakes  that  make  a  safe  and  beautiful  water-way. 
For  sometimes  we  enjoyed  in  silence  the  unaccustomed 
scene.  Then  suddenly  the  voice  of  sixteen  rowers 
broke  out  in  song.  This  astonished^  me  more  than 
the  oriental  scenery.  Sometimes  it  was  a  cantata  such 
as  we  hear  at  an  opera,  more  rude  but  more  masculine; 
sometimes  a  short  solo  oftentimes  consisting  of  but 
two  or  three  syllables  ;  again  it  became  a  spirited  de¬ 
clamation.  Each  knew  his  part  perfectly,  joining  in 
just  at  the  proper  moment ;  and,  in  all  this  interming¬ 
ling  of  solos,  duets  and  choruses,  there  was  not  one 
single  hitch.  We  had  never  heard  anything  like  these 


MUKKUVAN 


N.  ii.] 


471 


boat-songs.  Heard  in  the  silent  night,  they  assume  a 
warlike  character  very  different  from  the  peaceful  dis¬ 
positions  of  the  performers/’ 

They  select  their  subjects  from  the  Rsmsya^a, 
the  Bharata  or  from  other  religious  poems.  Passing 
events  of  the  day  also  attract  their  attention.  There 
are  songs  on  the  “Nsyar  war”,  the  fall  of  Diwan  Velu 
Tampi,  the  great  fire  at  Alleppey,  the  inundation  at 
Trivandrum  as  also  in  praise  of  popular  favourites  such 
as  Natavarampatt  Kunju  Krshna  Menon,  SarvSdhi- 
Ksriakksr,  a  late  minister  of  Cochin.  The  convert 
fishermen  have  also  supplied  their  quota  in  the  shape 
of  songs  on  the  foundation  and  consecration  of  the 
Venduruthy  Church  and  other  subjects  of  a  religious 
character.  Having  no  education  whatever,  they  ex¬ 
press  themselves  so  awkwardly  that  it  is  often  difficult 
to  distinguish  the  words  themselves.  The  Rev. 
Richard  Collins  has  reduced  into  musical  notation  one 
of  their  songs: — 

“  Pan-du-bhu-mi-ta-ni-lo-ru 
Wan-du’ta-num-pa-ran-nan-gu 
Man-di-na-dak-kun-nan-e-ram 
Kan-da-wa  *nu  m-o-ru-push-pam. 5  ’ 

He  gives  also  a  free  translation  of  the  song:— 

“Once  upon  this  earth  of  ours 
A  bee  flew  out  at  evening  hour  ; 

And  as  he  hastened  here  and  there, 

It  chanced  he  spied  a  beauteous  flower. 

The  flower  it  was  a  moon-faced  lotus  ; 

Glad  he  was  to  enter  in  ; 

Waiting  not  he  sipped  the  honey  ; 

He  cared  not  for  the  world  a  pin. 

He  knew  not  that  the  sun  was  setting, 

While  he  sucked  the  nectar  pure  ; 

And  if  we  know  not  what  is  doing, 

We  shall  find  misfortune  sure. 

Then  that  fair  flower  too  closed  its  petals, 

And  the  bee  was  roused  at  last — 


4?2  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

Alas !  but  soon  the  hours  will  hasten, 

Soon  the  night  that’s  come  be  past. 

Soon  will  the  day  again  be  dawning. 

The  sun  will  flood  the  eastern  sky, 

And  this  fair  flower  that’s  now  my  prison 
O’er  the  tank  will  open  lie. 

An  elephant,  while  thus  he  mused, 

The  tempting  lotus  chanced  to  see, 

With  hungry  maw  he  cropped  and  ate, 

And  crunched  the  too  presumptuous  bee.’’  1 
The  ordinary  canoe  or  Vallam  or  Vanchi  is  dug 
out  of  a  single  large  log  and  trimmed  by  carpenters. 
The  wood  used  is  generally  of  the  Sfiftili  tree,  but 
pine,  mango,  elavu  and  other  trees  are  also  used. 
They  range  from  the  smallest  size  of  a  few  feet  in 
length  to  the  largest  measuring  sometimes  43  feet  long 
and  3I  in  width.  The  commonest  size  for  a  pas¬ 
senger  boat  is  from  20  to  30  feet  long  and  2\  to  3  feet 
broad.  They  are  propelled  by  a  man  standing  at  the 
stern  with  a  long  bamboo  pole  and  slowly  move  along 
the  shallow  parts,  sometimes  a  second  man  rows  with 
a  paddle  at  the  bow  and  sails  are  also  spread  if  the 
wind  is  favourable.  There  is  a  thatch  overhead  to  pro¬ 
tect  passengers  from  sun,  wind  and  rain.  Its  progress 
is  very  slow.  Besides  these,  known  as  Kgvu  Vallams, 
there  are  others  called  Ofis  which  are  lighter  and 
propelled  by  means  of  oars  and  with  a  small  cabin  at 
the  stern  made  of  bamboo  mats.  These  go  faster. 
Those  that  carry  goods  are  called  Kettu  Vallams  or 
“sewn  boats’’  because  they  are  made  of  planks  sewn 
together  with  coir  cordage  through  holes  drilled  in  the 
edges,  the  seams  being  caulked  to  make  them  water 
tight  with  coir  fibre  and  yarn  round  and  over  which 
the  stitching  goes.  The  general  outline  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  canoe  but  they  can  be  made  of  much  larger 
size*  Those  that  are  used  generally  by  passengers 
for  travel  are  about  5*  feet  wide  and  25  to  30  feet 

1.  Missionary  Enterprise  in  the  East ,  p.  186. 


{To  face  p.  472. 


• 

. 


MUKKUVAN 


473 


N.  ii.] 

long  and  are  roomy  and  comparatively  cool  though 
very  slow  in  their  progress.  These  are  protected  with 
a  semicircular  waggon-like  cover  of  thatch  or  matting 
which  rises  to  the  height  of  6  feet  above  the  bottom  of 
the  boat,  so  that  one  can  almost  stand  upright  or  lie 
crosswise  in  it.  A  cot,  table  and  chair  can  also  be  put 
in,  so  that  travelling  though  slow  is  not  very  uncom¬ 
fortable.  Boats  of  a  larger  size  than  these  are  used  for 
the  carriage  of  goods,  and  scores  of  these  may  be  seen 
scudding  along  in  the  back-waters,  freighted  to  the 
brim  with  their  large  sails  spread,  bulging  against  the 
wind.  When  the  sail  cannot  be  spread,  the  bamboo 
punting-pole  is  taken  up,  and  two  will  work  at  it  in  turns 
from  morn  to  eve  and  the  night  throughout.  At  times, 
when  in  a  hurry,  the  boats  will  carry  a  complement  of 
four  men  or  more  working  at  the  poles  by  two  in  turn. 
There  is  yet  another  class  of  boats  that  are  used 
almost  exclusively  for  racing.  They  go  by  the  name 
Chuijdan  Vallams  or  snake  boats.  They  are  long  things 
lying  low  in  the  water  with  ornamental  bow  and  stern 
curving  upwards  (hence  the  name  Chundan  in  the  ver¬ 
nacular).  These  are  paddled  by  men  who  keep  good 
time  in  singing  and  become  greatly  excited,  yelling 
and  shouting  when  warmed  up  with  the  race.  In  parts 
of  central  Travancore,  these  boats  are  a  great  feature 
at  temple  festivals.  But  those  that  ply  the  paddle  are 
Nsyars  and  not  Vslans.  There  is  a  striking  descrip¬ 
tion  of  the  scene  given  by  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Richards: — 
“Aramula,  18th  August  at  5  A.  M.,  finds  us  opposite 
the  great  temple  steps,  on  which  an  immense  and 
excited  crowd  stands  some  holding  long  lighted  cressets 
which  are  reflected  in  the  water  making  a  weird' 
appearance  in  the  grey  light  of  morning.  The^river  is 
alive  with  canoes,  big  and  little,  which  are  objects  of 
great  interest  to  those  on  the  bank.  There  goes  a 
stately  racing-boat  with  its  prow  nine  feet  out 
of  the  water,  and  manned  by  a  hundred  rowers, 
besides  a  large  number  of  singers  standing  up, 
and  keeping  time  with  hands  and  feet  to  the  plash  of 

BH. 


474  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  JL.  21, 

the  oars.  These  boats  are  reported  when  full  to 
contain  200  persons  each.  How  proudly  they  stand, 
how  exultingly  they  sing,  how  gracefully  they  sway  to 
and  fro!  Mark  the  feathering  of  the  oars,  and  the 
musical  motion  of  the  paddles  stretched  far  from  the 
boats  and  brought  to  the  water  at  the  end  of  a  circular 
sweep.  How  fine  the  boat  looks  ornamented  at  head 
and  stern  by  plates  of  burnished  brass  and  large  silver 
headed  nails,  which  they  call  ‘bubbles’?  This  is  Onam, 
the  great  festival  season  of  Travancore,  and  these  are 
high  caste  people  performing  their  national  boat  game. 
These  five  great  boats  abreast  make  the  air  ring  with 
their  songs  as  they  glide  in  state  down  the  river.  If  we 
could  but  wait  till  next  Monday,  the  23rd,  we  should 
see  twenty-five  to-gether.”  1 

Fra  Bartolomeo  speaks  of  Tonies ,  Manji  or  Val - 
lam  being  used  in  the  Malabar  rivers  in  the  18th  cen¬ 
tury.  He  also  mentions  that  boat  builders  “join  the 
planks  together  with  the  greatest  ingenuity;  pay  the 
seams  with  different  kinds  of  gum,  and  fill  them  with 
fine  fibres  of  the  cocoanut  tree  so  as  to  be  impenetrable 
to  water.  On  the  outside  they  daub  them  over  with  oil 
procured  from  pilchards  and  other  fat  substances 
which  make  the  wood  smooth  and  at  the  same  time 
defend  it  from  the  saline  particles  of  sea  water,  and 
from  being  destroyed  by  warms.5’  He  names  the  follow¬ 
ing  as  the  different  kinds  of  vessels  employed  for  navi¬ 
gation  on  the  coast,  and  the  rivers  of  Malabar: — 

Candimaram .  It  consists  of  two  pieces  of  wood 
closely  joined,  and  strongly  fastened  together.  With 
this  frail  and  simple  vessel  the  Indians  venture  even 
out  to  sea.  It  is  indeed  often  over-set;  but,  as  the 
person  who  directs  it  rows  quite  naked  and  on  his 
knees,  he  soon  clambers  back  into  his  Candimaram  and 
the  fury  of  the  waves.  These  Catamarams  have  been 
explained  to  mean  Catamarams  ’  (Mai:  Ke{{u  maram= 
logs  tied  together). 

1.  Native  life  in  Travancore,  p.  250, 


MUKKUVAN 


475 


N.  ii.] 

Toni*  Manji  or  Valiant .  These  are  canoes,  which 
consist  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree  made  hollow. 

Ciangada .  This  is  the  name  given  to  a  certain 
number  of  planks  joined  together  so  as  to  form  a  kind 
of  raft. 

Cemboca .  Is  a  broad  boat  or  wherry,  perfectly 
flat  at  the  bottom.  This  has  apparently  gone  out  of 
use  now. 

This  is  also  a  kind  of  wherry,  nearly  of  a  square 
form,  and  so  narrow  at  the  top  that  the  apperture 
through  which  people  enter  it  is  scarcely  a  foot  in 
diameter.  These  vessels  are  built  on  this  pattern, 
because  they  are  employed  for  transporting  the  nellu 
(paddy)  and  other  articles,  which  would  be  invariably 
spoiled  if  the  sea-water  should  find  admittance  into 
them* 

Koppel  or  Padava.  This  is  the  name  given  in 
the  Malabar  language  to  large  ships  which  have  from 
two  to  three  masts,  and  are  furnished  with  anchors, 
ropes  and  sails.1 

In  Astby's  New  Collection  of  Voyages ,  there  is  a 
plate  containing  an  illustration  of  the  boats  used  in  the 
Cochin  Backwaters  when  the  Portuguese  were  in 
Cochin,  and  it  will  be  interesting  to  compare  them  with 
specimens  of  modern  boats. 

The  boats  used  by  the  Mukkuvas  and  Katal 
Arayans  who  fish  in  the  sea  are  of  course  of  a  different 
type.  Jhey  are  (i)  Cattamarams  consisting  of  logs  of 
wood  tied  together  with  cross  bars  and  ropes  near  the 
ends  and  (2)  the  fishing  boat  which  is  like  the  ordi¬ 
nary  canoe  not  so  long  but  narrower  and  deeper  with 
a  plank  on  either  side  as  a  kind  of  gunwale. 

Religion .  The  religion  of  the  V2lan  or  Arayan  is 
a  low  form  of  Brahmanism 'hot  far  removed  from  demon 
worship.  They  have  a  few  small  temples  of  Bhagavaji 
at  which Vslans  officiate.  They  dread  demons  spe¬ 
cially  the  water-demon,  'they  attend  and  worship  at 
Brahman  temples,  but  this  they  can  do  only  standing 
S.  Pig*?  *07. 


476  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21; 

at  a  distance.  They  are  becoming  more  and  more 
Brahman ised,  and  they  make  it  a  point  now  to  observe 
Hindu  festivals,  feasts  and  fasts,  and  many  of  them  are 
regular  worshippers  at  Brahman  temples. 

12.  Cannekaas,  Bettoas.  Our  author  names  the 
Kanakkans  and  Vettuvans  as  forming  the  slave  castes 
of  Malabar.  The  enumeration  is  not  exhaustive.  The 
Cochin  Census  Report  mentions  the  various  classes  of 
agricultural  serfs,  who  were  but  recently  slaves,  as  being 

(1)  Kariakkar,  (1)  Kutar  (3)  Pulayar  or  Chefumar 
(4)  Parayar  and  (5)  Vettuvar.  These  represent  the  types 
of  various  grades  in  the  process  of  evolution  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest.  Of  these,  Ka^akkar  and  Ku^ar 
are  superior  to  the  rest  in  caste  status,  and  the  rest 
come  in  order.  Dr.  Day  observes  that  the  soil  slaves 
are  sometimes  called  Cherumars  (Mai.  Chgr=mud)  as  a 
whole,  and  divides  them  into  four  classes:  (1)  Pulayar, 

(2)  Parayar,  (3)  Uilatar  and  (4)  Ka^akkar. 

13.  Caste  Precedence.  Human  nature  is 
such  that  even  among  these  classes,  miserable  as  they 
are  in  every  respect,  disputes  as  to  social  precedence, 
etc.,  of  caste  superiority  cause  considerable  commotion 
in  the  community  and  lead  to  disastrous  results.  The 
slave  castes  as  a  whole  have  to  stand  at  a  distance  of 
64  feet  from  Brahmans.  Their  ^approach  within  that 
distance  pollutes  all  castes  above  them.  Next  comes 
the  distinction  as  between  themselves.  While  a  Pafa- 
yan  pollutes  a  Pulayan  only  by  touch,  a  Vettuvan 
pollutes  him  by  approach;  an  Uliatan  (a  caste  not  far 
removed  from  these)  has  to  stand  as  far  away  from  a 
Pulayan  as  the  Pulayan  has  to  do  to  castes  above  him. 
If  polluted  by  the  approach  of  an  Uliatan,  a  Pulayan  has 
to  take  seven  baths  and  to  shed  a  small  quantity  of 
blood  from  his  little  finger  to  remove  the  pollution.  Not 
only  is  there  a  dispute  between  the  Ka^akkar  and  the 
Pulayar,  but  there  is  difference  of  opinion  in  their  res¬ 
pective  communities  as  to  the  relative  status  of  the 
Pulayan  and  the  Vettuvan,  each  claiming  superiority 
over  the  other* 


PULAYANS 


477 


N.  14.] 

There  is  very  little  difference  between  the  man¬ 
ners  and  customs  of  these  various  classes,  so  that  a 
detailed  account  of  one  of  them  would  be  sufficient  to 
give  one  an  idea  of  the  entire  class.  Still  we  may  make 
a  cursory  glance  over  all  or  many  of  them  while  dealing 
somewhat  in  detail  with  some. 

We  have  already  observed  that  the  Kanakkar  and 
Kufar  are  superior  to  the  rest  in  status.  The  former 
have  almost  given  up  their  traditional  occupation,  and 
many  have  taken  to  fishing  and  boat  service.  As  a 
result,  they  have  risen  socially  and  are  much  better  off 
now  than  other  classes.  In  regard  to  the  ceremonies 
of  Tslikettu,  nuptials,  funeral,  etc.,  the  Ka^akkans, 
Kutans,  Pafayans  and  Vettuvans  follow  customs  more 
or  less  similar  to  those  of  the  Pulayans. 

14.  The  Pulleahs.  The  Pulayans  may  be 
treated  as  the  type  of  the  class  of  soil  slaves.  They 
are  differently  designated  in  different  localities.  In  the 
District  of  Malabar  and  in  the  northern  Taluks  of  the 
Cochin  State,  they  go  more  generally  by  the  names  of 
Chefumakkal,  Mulayan  and  Valliyai.  In  Travancore 
and  the  southern  Taluks  of  Cochin,  they  are  designated 
Pulayans. 

The  word  Pulaya  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from 
the  Malayalam  term  Pula  meaning  pollution  and  was 
applied  to  the  class  because,  under  the  conventional 
idea  of  atmospheric  pollution  supposed  to  be  caused  to 
the  higher  classes  by  proximity  of  most  of  the  indi¬ 
genous  inhabitants  of  Malabar,  this  class  was  held  to 
cause  the  greatest  impurity  by  approaching  the  higher 
classes. 

More  than  one  derivation  is  attributed  to  the  word 
Chefumakkal.  It  is  said  that  it  is  a  compound  of 
Chgr  -f  Makkal,  Cher  in  Malayalam  meaning  ‘wet  soil* 
or  mud  and  Makkal,  children.  ‘Children  of  the  soil’ 
indicates  at  once  their  indigenous  origin  and  their 
occupation,  viz.*  working  in  the  fields.  Another  deri¬ 
vation  is  that  the  compound  Chefu  4-  Makkal  means 


478  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

little  children  or  short-sized  people.  Yet  a  third  is  that 
of  Chifa  +  Makkal,  i.  c .,  those  who  live  on  the  bunds  of 
fields,  Chifa  meaning  a  bund.  These  people  are  also 
called  Cherumars. 

The  term  ValliySl  is  traced  to  the  practice  in  many 
places  of  giving  them  in  the  evening,  as  the  wages  of 
their  day’s  labour,  Valli  (wages)  paddy;  hence  those 
who  receive  this  are  called  Vallial,  (one  receiving  wages 
in  paddy). 

Origin .  The  Pulayans  of  Malabar  appear  to  be 
identical  with  the. Holyas  of  Coorg,  Canara  and  Mysore 
whose  name  Mr.  Lewis  Rice  of  Mysore  derives  from 
Holci  a  field.  In  Canara  they  were  agrestic  serfs  in 
former  days  and  are  still  the  field  labourers  like  the 
Pulayans  of  Malabar.  The  Brahmans  derive  the  name 
Holya ,  from  holc>  pollution,  just  as  the  word  Pulaya  is 
derived  from  Pula,  pollution.  Others  derive  it  from 
kola land  or  soil  just  as  in  Malabar  the  word  Cheru- 
man  or  Cherumakkal  is  traced  to  Chgfu,  soil.  Both  in 
Canara  and  in  Malabar,  the  Pulayas  and  the  Holyas 
claim  to  have  been  once  masters  of  the  soil,  and  there 
are  customs  still  extant  which  lend  colour  to  the  Claim. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  formed  part  of  the 
indigenous  inhabitants  of  the  country*  Though  they 
are  regarded  by  some  as  descendants  of  the  early  Dra* 
vidian  immigrants,  others  there  are  who  think  that  they 
belong  by  almost  pure  descent  to  the  Turanian  race 
that  peopled  India  before  the  Aryan  invasion.  The 
Rev.  Richard  Collins  remarks,  “I  have  observed  that 
some  caste  or  races  of  the  Himalayan  tribes  which  are 
in  the  Madras  Museum  exhibit  exactly  similar  features 
to  those  of  many  Travancore  slaves.”  But  Professor 
Monier  Williams  observes,  “If  the  term  Turanian  is 
to  embrace  races  so  widely  separated  by  custom 
and  long  usage  as  the  Dravidian  and  various  hill  tribes 
of  India,  the  sooner  it  is  expelled  from  the  vocabulary 
of  philologists  and  ethnologists,  the  better”.  Bishop 
Caldwell  regards  the  Pulayas  as  representatives  of  the 
same  class  as  the  Pafayas  and  Pallar  of  Tinnevelly.  He 


PULAYANS 


N.  14.] 


479 


remarks, “perhaps  the  best  representatives  at  present  of 

the  earliest  race  of  inhabitants  are  those  oppressed  tribe 

now  considered  the  lowest  in  the  social  scale.  It  is  a 

noticeable  circumstance  that  there  is  no  tradition  what- 

.  • 

ever  of  the  arrival  in  the  country  at  any  time  of  the 
Pallars  and  Parayans”,  nor  of  the  Pulayas  or  Cheru- 
mas  in  Malabar.  The  learned  Bishop  considers  “the 
black,  low-caste  races  of  southern  India  not  Turanians 
or  immigrants  of  any  sort  but  aboriginies  of  the  Eastern 
Islands  and  Australia.”  The  Pulaya  features  confirm 
this  view.  The  type  seems  to  be  the  Negroid  as 
embracing  the  Kaffir,  the  Andamanese  and  the  Papuan. 
There  is  distinctly  noticeable  the  short  stature,  the  low 
forehead,  the  high  cheek  bones,  the  large  mouth,  the 
broad  nose  and  the  large  thick  lips  of  the  Negroid 
type.  The  hair  in  some  cases  is  slightly  wooly. 

The  Pulayas  about  Trivandrum  gave  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Mateer  the  following  tradition  of  their  origin,  no 
doubt  as  the  result  of  the  lesson  taught  them  by  the 
higher  classes*  “We  are  content  to  remain  in  our 
present  circumstances  for  Bhagavan  (God),  after  having 
created  the  higher  castes,  considered  what  to  do  with 
the  surplus  earth,  when  Parvathi  advised  him  to  create 
therewith  a  low  class  to  serve  the  higher  ones.”  Such  is 
the  imposition  drilled  into  the  untutored  minds  of  these 
wretched  people  by  the  higher  castes.  Those  living  at 
Kanjirapilly,  in  the  interior  of  Travancore,  about  the 
forest  tracts  where  high  class  arrogance  penetrates  only 
with  some  difficulty  have  a  higher  notion  of  their 
origin.  In  an  account  preserved  in  the  Mackenzie 
Mss*,  the  people  are  said  to  hold  that  when  Parasu 
Rama  had  made  slaughter  in  his  wars,  the  widows 
lamented  their  being  without  husbands  and  besought 
him  to  supply  others,  which  he  effected  by  calling  in 
strangers,  from  which  origin  the  Pulayars  are  derived* 

Under  the  Hindu  system  they  belong  to  one  of 
the  eight  Nicha  or  polluted  castes  and  are  said  to  have 
been  brought  into  Malabar  by  Parasu  Rama  for  the 
service  of  the  Brahman  and  others.  There  can  however 


480  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  (L.  *i. 

be  little  doubt  that  they  were  the  original  inhabi¬ 
tants  of  Malabar  along  with  other  analogous  tribes, 
and  there  are  indeed  traces  of  their  once  having  held 
considerable  power  in  the  land.  Tradition  current 
among  the  caste  speaks  of  their  having  once  upon  a 
time  held  dominion  over  parts*  of  the  country.  In  the 
south  near  Trivandrum,  they  are  said  to  have  had  a 
Raja  or  chieftain  of  their  own  caste  who  resided  in  a 
fort  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Veli  lake,  called  Pula- 
yanar  Kotta  i  e.t  the  fort  of  the  Pulaya  chief.  There 
are  still  some  remains  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  near 
Veli  of  a  mud  wall  and  ditch  some  60  or  70  feet  square 
enclosing  a  small  level  plot  of  ground  now  over¬ 
grown  with  shrub  and  with  a  deep  well  inside. 
It  is  further  said  that  a  Sudra  family  in  the  neighbour¬ 
hood  are  still  called  by  their  fellows  “the  Pulayan’s 
accountant.”  and  these  freely  admit  that  their  ancestors 
did  hold  that  office.  The  Pulayas  of  North  Travancore 
acknowledge  a  person  called  Aikkara  Yajamanan , 
whose  ancestors  are  reputed  to  have  been  Pulaya 
kings,  as  their  head  and  show  considerable  respect  to 
him*  and  their  Nsd  or  country,  still  known  as  Aikkara- 
ftad  in  the  Kuftfiattunsd  Taluk  Travancore.  It  is 
supposed  to  point  to  their  whilom  prosperity.  Mr. 
Mateer  thinks  that  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  any 
of  this  unfortunate  race  could  have  been  within  the 
last  few  centuries  in  possession  of  independent  autho¬ 
rity.  He  therefore  suggests  that  the  chieftains  or 
kings  referred  to  were  perhaps  the  headmen  of  Pulayars 
appointed  by  the  Travancore  Government  to  be  res¬ 
ponsible  for  the  others  in  all  matters  of  business.  There 
may  have  been  one  chief,  head  of  all,  near  the  capital, 
to  whom,  as  a  politic  means  of  ruling  the  others,  some 
special  privileges,  and  a  small  mud-walled  fort  might 
have  been  allowed,  as  was  done  to  the  head  of  the 
ShSnnSrs  at  AgastTSwaram.  Even  at  present,  in  the 
Cochin  State,  the  Raja  grants  royal  writs  or  Theettoo - 
rams ,  Appointing  headmen  in  the  Pulaya  community 
securing  to  them  authority  over  the  people  within 


PULAYANS 


481 


N.  i.] 

certain  specified  jurisdictions  and  conferring  privi¬ 
leges  on  them.  These  headmen  are  called  Kuruppan , 
Elay  a  Kanakkan ,  Vallon>  etc.  Looking  however  to 
the  tradition  not  simply  of  the  Pulayas  but  also  of  other 
communities  on  the  East  Coast  akin  to  them,  it  is  pro¬ 
bable  that,  though  not  in  the  near  past,  still,  far,  far  in 
the  background,  Pulayas  had  posed  themselves  as  a 
ruling  race  holding  independent  authority,  at  any  rate 
over  their  own  community.  The  Parayas  claim  to 
have  been  once  an  independent  community  with  terri¬ 
torial  sway.  So  also  the  Kuravas,  e.g.,  the  Nanjakuravas 
who  were,  they  say,  ruling  over  Nanjaftad  in  South 
Travancore  till  a  couple  of  centuries  ago.  The 
Chakkalian  or  Shoe-maker’s  Fort  in  North  Arcot  also 
suggests  a  similar  probability. 

Sub-divisions .  In  Travancore,  there  is  the  main 
division  of  the  Pulayas  into  the  Kilakkan  or  Eastern 
and  the  PatifiMran  or  Western,  the  former  living  in 
the  eastern  and  the  latter  in  the  western  Taluks  of 
the  State.  The  caste  has  many  sub-divisions  some  of 
which  may  be  mentioned  here:  (i)  Kannap pulayas 
(  2  )  Vettupulayas  (  3  )  Kanakkapulayas — found  in 
Cochin  and  to  the  north  of  Cranganore.  They  are 
polluted  by  the  touch  of  other  Pulayas.  *  (4)  Ina- 
pulayans  —  do  not  eat  or  intermarry  with  other 
Pulayas.  In  Travancore,  these  live  between  Quilon 
and  Alleppey,  The  great  difference  between  the  Eastern 
and  the  Western  Pulayas  is  that  the  latter  rank  above 
the  former  on  the  ground  that  the  Eastern  Pulayas  are 
beef-eaters  and  therefore  a  degraded  class.  The  beef¬ 
eaters  are  sometimes  called  Pa§u  (cow)  Pulayas  and 
Eruma  (  buffalo )  Pulayas.  The  difference  is  so 
pronounced  that  the  Westerners  consider  even  the 
approach  of  the  Easterners  polluting.  The  customs 
of  the  Eastern  Pulayas  seem  to  point  them  out  as 
virtually  Parayas,  as  the  Paiiar  colonies  in  Travancore 
are  often  called  Pulayars.  The  term  may  also  be 
regarded  as  pointing  to  the  direction  whence  they  came, 

BI. 


482 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  21, 


Their  tradition  is  that  they  were  the  slaves  of  Duryo- 
cjhana  and  his  brothers  while  their  Western  brethren 
belonged  to  the  PSndavSs — the  rival  parties  in  the 
great  war  of  the  Mah^bharata — and  the  defeat  of 
Duryodhana  is  also  alleged  to  be  the  cause  of  the 
greater  degradation  of  the  former.  There  are  other 
divisions  of  note  such  as  (i)  the  Pichchatan  (2)  The 
Kuruppan  and  (3)  the  Valluvan.  In  Cochin,  the  last 
class  the  Valluvan  is  said  to  be  the  highest  class  among 
Pulayas  while  the  term  Valluvan  is  well  known  to  be 
a  title  belonging  to  the  Paraya  caste. 

The-  whole  caste  is  divided  into  Illamsy  and  these 
Illams  are  numerous.  Some  may  be  named  here.  e-g., 
Brahmakotta ,  Velli,  P  allikutachan ,  etc. 

General  appearance .  In  appearance  they  are 
inferior  to  the  Parayas.  The  men  are  small,  short  in 
stature,  and  their  complexion  not  simply  dark  but  at 
times  jet  black.  The  women  are  quite  dimunitive  and 
very  plain  looking,  seldom  handsome,  but  a  few  of 
them  are  passable  looking  when  young. 

Of  these  people  Barbosa  remarks,  “They  are  a 
very  low  class' living  in  swamps — Any  man  or  woman 
touching  these  is  killed  immediately  by  the  relations 
and  the  Pulers  are  also  killed  *  *  These  people  are 
great  charmers,  thieves  and  very  vile  people.” 

Clothing  and  Ornaments .  As  might  be  expected 
of  such  a  degraded  class,  their  clothing  and  ornaments 
are  of  the  simplest  nature.  The  men  generally  wear  a 
short  Mundu  or  piece  of  cloth  round  the  loins  seldom 
reaching  to  the  knees.  The  Tandapulayas  or  Vettu- 
pulayas  or  Kanapulayas  who  are  found  south  of  Allep- 
pey  and  extend  to  the  Cochin  State,  living  between  the 
sea  and  the  backwater,  are  a  peculiarly  degraded  class 
whose  women  cloth  themselves  in  a  leafy  garment  The 
Rev:  W.  J.  Richards  gives  the  following  account  of  a 
tradition  extant  among  these  people:  “The  men  of 
these  Tanda  Pulayans  (who  wear  the  tandu  grass),  wear 
the  ordinary  lower  cloth  of  the  kind  worn  in  this 


UMBRELLA 


-  MAKERS. 


I  To  face  p,  486 


PULAYAS. 


w 

o 

£ 

< 

:* 


0. 

a 

2: 

< 

K 

H 


N.  14.] 


PULAYANS 


483 


country  but  the  distinctive  name  of  the  tribe  comes  from 
the  women’s  dress,  which  is  a  very  primitive  article 
indeed.  The  leaves  of  a  certain  water  plant  (. Isolepis 
articulata  Nees)  are  cut  into  lengths  of  a  foot  long  and 
tied  round  the  waist  in  such  a  fashion  that  the  strings 
unwoven  hang  in  a  bushy  tail  behind,  and  present  the 
same  appearance  in  front  reaching  nearly  to  the  knees. 
This  dress  is  accounted  for  by  a  tradition  that  in 
former  days  a  certain  high  casteman  of  that  region  had 
been  sowing  grains  and  planting  vegetables  in  his  fields 
but  found  that  his  daily  work  was  in  some  unknown 
way  frustrated;  for  whatever  he  planted  or  sowed  in 
the  day  was  carefully  picked  up  and  taken  ‘when  men 
slept*.  So  he  set  a  watch,  and  one  night  he  saw  coming 
out  of  a  hole  hitherto  unknown  to  him  certain  beings 
like  men  but  tpiite  naked,  who  set  to  work  destroying 
his'hopes  o Ta  crop.  Pursuing  them  he  succeeded  in 
catching  a  man  and  a  woman;  and  he  was  so  impressed 
with  shame  at  their  condition  that  he  gave  the  man  his 
own  upper  _cloth  which  was  hanging  on  his  shoulder 
and  made  him  put  it  on  but  not  having  one  to  spare 
for  the  woman,  she  made  herself  an  apron  of  grass  as 
above  described.  These  were  the  progenitors  of  the 
numerous. slaves  who  are  found  there  at  this  day.  They 
are  called  “Kuzhi”  or  ‘Pit’  Pulayans  from  having 
originated  as  above  said.  These  leafy  aprons  are  of 
rather  curious  make  and  occupy  the  women  ten  whole 
days  with  close  application  to  make  their  whole  grass 
attire.  The  Tandapulayas  resemble  a  good  deal  the 
Juangs  of  Orissa  who  are  Kolarians  in  race  and  are 
called  Patuas  (literally  the  “leaf  wearers”)  whose 
women  wear  no  clothes,  but  only  a  few  strings  of  beads 
round  the  waist  and  a  bunch  of  leaves  tied  in  front  and 
behind.  The  British  Government  shocked  at  this 
state  of  things  provided  a  cotton  cloth  for  each  of  the 
women.  They  passed  in  their  newly  acquired  garments 
in  single  file  before  the  English  officer  who  made  the 
distribution  of  cloths,  made  their  obeisance  as  a  sign 
of  submission  and  were  afterwards  marked  on  the 


484 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L;  21. 


forehead  with  vermilion.  But  this  enforced  submission 
to  the  highly  advanced  ideas  of  a  civilized  Government 
was  too  much  for  the  poor  beings,  for  before  long  many 
of  the  young  women  had  gone  back  to  their  leaves. 
Their  sisters,  the  Tandapulaya  women  of  Malabar, 
share  with  them  similar  ideas  for  they  too  are  much 
opposed  to  the  change  of  grass  for  cloth  and  maintain 
that  they  might  as  well  be  out  of  the  world  as  out  of  the 
fashion.” 

The  Pulaya  women  wear  round  their  neck  and 
hanging  on  the  breast  bunches  and  strings  of  beads  and 
small  shells.  Gold  and  silver  ornaments  they  cannot  of 
course  afford  to  get  and,  even  if  they  could,  till  recently, 
they  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  wear  them  by  the 
higher  castes.  Thin  flat  pieces  of  brass  about  an  inch 
in  diameter  with  a  small  dot  pattern  are  strung  round 
the  neck  and,  of  late,  there  are  rare  instances  of  a  Rssi 
(a  small  gold  coin)  being  also  used.  Brass  bangles  are 
also  in  use.  They  purchase  bangles,  beads,  shells, 
rings,  etc.,  of  trifling  value  which  are  crowded  on  their 
fingers,  arms,  necks  and  ears  in  such  quantity  as  to  be 
almost  a  burden.  The  front  teeth  are  filed  sharp  like 
canine  teeth. ' 

The  eastern  Pulayars  went  about  in  former  days, 
and  some  even  now,  without  any  other  clothing  than  a 
string  of  large  thick  leaves  round  the  loins;  or  if  they 
got  a  cotton  cloth,  they  wore  it  over  this  or  as  head 
cloth.  They  hang  a.  large  quantity  of  strings  of  beads 
or  cowries  round  the  neck.  The  Kutimi  or  top  knot 
of  hair  is  not  worn.  In  Cochin,  as  a  rule,  the  Pulayas 
of  the  northern  taluks  wear  the  Kutumi  like  other 
Malayalees,  while  those  of  the  southern  taluks  shave 
their  heads  clean  like  Jonaka  Muppilias  and  Christians. 

Food,  drink  and  habitation .  Their  food  is  chiefly 
rice  which  they  are  able  to  get  during  a  few  months  of 
the  year.  The  rice  is  boiled  and  eaten  with  coarse 
curry  made  of  fish,  and  vegetables  which  they  some¬ 
times  grow  on  the  patch  of  ground  allotted  to  them  by 


PULAYANS 


N,  14.] 


485 


their  masters.  During  the  remaining  portion  of  the 
year,  when  harvest  is  distant,  they  have  to  content 
themselves  with  fruits  and  roots.  Even  when  they  get 
milk  or  eggs,  they  prefer  to  sell  them  rather  than  use 
them  themselves.  They  indulge  freely  in  drink  partly 
to  make  up  the  want  of  sufficient  food  so  that  they  may 
satisfy  cravings  of  hunger.  Toddy  is  their  favourite 
drink  and,  after  a  day’s  labour  in  the  fields  and  marshes; 
they  may  be  pardoned  if  they  quaff  a  quantity  of  arrack 
to  appease  their  hunger  and  thirst  before  going  to  rest. 
Tobacco  is  also  freely  used  both  by  men  and  women. 
Badly  fed,  and  living  on  the  bunds  and  in  the  fields  and 
marshes,  the  effects  of  liquor  and  narcotics  like 
tobacco  make  the  Pulayas  soon  to  succumb  to  all  sorts 
of  ills.  The  children  especially  are  too  prone  to  suffer 
from  diarrhoea,  debility  and  intestinal  worms  arising 
from  innutritious  foods  many  of  them  die  young  frdm 
want  of  proper  care  and  attention.  If  the  rate  of 
mortality  among  them  is  not  so  high  as  one  is  apt  to 
consider  from  their  environments  and  modes  of  life,  it 
is  entirely  due  to  their  hardy  life  and  work  in  the  open 
air.  In  the  rainy  season,  small  fish,  snails  and  shell¬ 
fish  are  sought  for  from  the  tanks  and  channels  that 
irrigate  the  fields.  'Crabs  and  rats  are  also  eaten. 
These  appease  the  hunger  of  the  poor  children  in  the 
wet.  \yeather.  But  as  the  hot  season  approaches,  they 
often  faint  with  hunger  and  are  obliged  to  wander  into 
the  jungles  in  the  search  of  wild  roots  and  fruits. 

The  Rev.  Richard  Collins  has  drawn  a  correct 
and  striking  picture  of  the  dwelling  of  a  Pulaya.  “It 
was  built  so  far  as  I  remember,  of  five  sticks,  four  of 
which  were  stuck  into  the  ground  two  in  front  and  two 
behind  and  tied  together  so  as  to  form  two  little  forks 
at  the  top,  on  which  was  laid  the  fifth;  over  all  were 
tied  some  leaves  of  the*  cocoanut  palm  which  forms  an 
excellent  thatch.  Two  naked  black  children  were 
crawling  about  making  mud  puddings,  just  after  the 
fashion  of  their  brothers  and  sisters  in  Europe,  and  a 
woman  was  boiling  some  rice  in  an  earthern-ware  pot9 


48(j  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

here  called  a  codum  or  chatty,  which  was  supported 
over  the  fire  upon  a  few  pieces  of  stone.  The  pitcher 
was  garnished  with  two  or  three  fish  that  lay  about  and 
which  had  been  caught  by  means  of  a  fishing  basket  in 
a  little  canal  hard  by!”1 

Occupation .  From  time  immemorial  they  have 
been  field  labourers.  They  were  agrestic  slaves 
attached  to  the  lands  passing  with  the  land  from  owner 
to  owner  by  sale,  mortgage,  etc.,  of  the  land.  Their 
work  lies  almost  exclusively  in  the  rice  fields  pumping 
them  dry  by  means  of  water-wheels,  making  up  embank¬ 
ments,  hedging,  dipping,  manuring,  ploughing,  weed¬ 
ing,  transplanting  and  reaping.  Men,  women  and 
children  work  together  during  harvest  time.  In  the 
nights  they  have  to  guard  their  master’s  field  from  the 
encroachments  of  cattle  or  the  depredations  of  wild 
animals.  In  the  evening,  their  masters  dole  out  2 
Edangalies  of  paddy  barely  sufficient  to  keep  body  and 
soul  together.  After  the  harvest  season,  they  can 
seldom  find  work  and  are  thrown  back  upon  lean  re¬ 
sources  to  find  their  subsistence,  with  the  inevitable 
result  that  they  have  to  starve  till  the  next  harvest  comes 
round.  Not  suffered  to  leave  the  fields  and  approach 
cities  and  towns,  it  is  almost  impossible  for  them  to  find 

*  1 

work.  They  possess  no  weapons,  and  have  no  manu¬ 
factures  save  of  palm-leaf  umbrellas,  baskets  made  of 
reeds  and  mats  for  which  they  can  seldom  find  mar¬ 
kets. 

Varthema  mentions  the  Poliar  as  forming  the  fifth 
class  coming  immediately  after  the  ‘Mechura’  and  their 
occupation  is  said  to  be,  “to  collect  pepper,  wine  and 
nuts.”  We  read  in  Purchas  that  “the  Puler  are  as 
excommunicate  persons,  and  live  in  deserts,  where  the 
Nayros  Lave  no  occasion  to  pass,”  also  that  they  are 
“thieves  and  sorcerers.”  Barbosa  adds  “these  people 
are  great  charmers,  thieves  and  very  vile.”  Linschoten 
as  already  observed  knows  only  of  “two  manner  of 

s.  Missionary  Enter  prise  %  p.  178. 


N.  14.] 


rULAYANS 


487 


people  in  Malabar,  the  one  Noblemen  or  Gentlemen, 
called  Nayros  *  *  *  the  other  is  the  common  people, 
called  Polayas”.  He  describes  them  as  “such  as  are  the 
country  husbandmen,  and  labourers,  men  of  occupa¬ 
tions,  Fishers  and  such  like.  Those  are  much  condemned 
and  despised,  they  live  miserably  and  may  wear  no 
kind  of  weapon,  neither  yet  touch  nor  be  conversant 
with  the  Nayros”.  Hamilton  would  have  it  that  “the 
Poulias  produce  the  labourers  and  mechanics” 

General  condition .  Their  position  in  society  ought 
to  excite  pity  in  any  one.  Warned  off  from  all  haunts 
of  human  beings,  subjected  to  every  possible  sort  of 
oppression,  denied  sufficient  and  wholesome  food,  clad 
in  filthy  habiliments,  living  in  the  marshes  and  in 
miserable  huts  not  capable  of  keeping  out  sun,  rain,  or 
dew,  they  are  a  wretched  lot  of  humanity  deserving  the 
attention  of  philanthropists.  In  early  days,  no  one 
extended  to  them  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  except 
the  Christian  Missionary.  In  Travancore,  and  to  a 
certain  extent  in  Cochin  also,  the  various  Missionary 
bodies  have  tried  and  succeeded  in  a  way  in  alleviating 
the  miseries  of  these  unfortunate  beings.  Mahomeda- 
nism  has  also  come  to  their  assistance  specially  in  the 
District  q>f  Malabar  but  of  course  not  with  the  organised 
machinery  of  the  Christian  Missions.  Conversion 
to  Christianity  or  Mahomedanism  at  once  lifts  the 
Pulaya  in  the  social  scale  and  gives  him  a  passport  to 
tread  over  ground  hitherto  forbidden.  Their  approach 
no  longer  pollutes  higher  castes.  Only  the  touch 
pollution  remains.  The  Crescent  and  the  Cross  enable 
those  dark  skinned  sons  of  the  soil  to  rise  by  one 
bound  from  the  most  degraded  position  to  one  of  equa¬ 
lity  with  most  others.  But  yesterday  a  wretched  slave, 
compelled  to  stand  and  even  to  prostrate  himself  on  the 
ground  at  a  distance  of  64  feet  from  his  Brahman  or 
Nsyar  master,  even  from  castes  below  these,  and 
always  restricted  to  the  field  from  which  he  can  step 
out  only  with  loud  warnings  of  his  approach  lest  he 


488  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

may  not  taint  the  sacred  presence  of  his  lord  with  his 
too  close  proximity,  to-day  he  walks  erect  on  the  public 
road  almost  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  most  ortho¬ 
dox  Brahman  and  approaches  within  reasonable  distance 
of  the  sacred  edifice  of  the  latter.  With  the  badge  of 
Christianity  or  Islam  on  him,  he  is  able  to  engage 
himself  in  whatever  honest  work  he  can  do,  earn  higher 
ways  and  lead  a  comparatively  easy  and  comfortable 
life.  The  Rev.  Richard  Collins  gives  us  an  account  of 
an  amusing  conversation  between  two  slave  converts 
and  a  Brahman.  ?‘The  slave  converts  were  walking  along 
the  highway,  when  the  Brahman  meeting  them,  stopped 
at  some  distance  and  cried  out  in  an  authoritative  man¬ 
ner  the  usual  ‘Po’,  ‘Po’,  “Go  away”,  “Go  away”.  But 
the  men  were  not  willing  to  go  and  marched  onwards 
with  a  rather  determined  and  careless  air.  The  Brahmin 
raised  his  ‘Po’,  ‘Po'  with  a  still  higher  and  angry  tone. 
‘But’  said  the  slaves  ‘we  are  not  going  to  go;  we  have 
as  'much  right  now  to  the  road  as  you ;  we  are 
Christians*.  ‘Ho,  ho’!  exclaimed  the  Brahman,  soften¬ 
ing  his  voice  a  little,  ‘but  it  has  not  quite  come  to  that 
yet,  that  I  should  have  to  get  out  of  the  way  for  you, 
times  are  changing  it  is  true  and  perhaps  before  long 
we  shall  be  obliged  to  yield  to  another  state  of  things ; 
but  for  the  present  while  the  custom  lasts,  you  had 
better  move  out  of  the  way’.  The  slaves  laughed,  but 
did  not  move  out  of  the  way,  and  the  Brahman  was 
obliged  to  go  into  the  hedge  himself,  while  they  passed, 
though  quite  respectfully  by  on  the  other  side.” 

Their  environments  have  in  no  small  degree  con¬ 
tributed  towards  their  low  social  position.  As  a  rule 
the  people  of  the  west  coast  are  extremely  superstitious 
and  bigoted  to  a  degree  and  are  more  tenacious  of 
holding  fast  to  their  primitive  customs  and  habits  than 
people  on  the  other  coast.  This  is  due  a  good  deal  to  the 
physical  conformation  of  the  country,  and  the  scrupulous 
cleanliness  of  the  high  class  people  there.  Hemmed  in 
all  sides  by  natural  barriers  that  prevent  them  from 
having  intercourse  with  people  outside,  they  have 


PULAYANS 


489 


N.  14.] 

become  an  extremely  conservative  lot.  While,  as 
observed  by  Mr.  Mateer,  the  Carnatic  serfs  could  run 
away  from  one  King  to  another  (as  some  Parayas  are 
known  to  have  come  seven  generations  ago  to  Nanjanad 
for  greater  freedom  and  safety) ;  here  in  Malabar  they 
were  hemmed  in  by  impassable  mountains  and  forests 
and  by  the  sea,  deep  rivers  to  cross,  Nayars  everywhere 
on  the  watch  and  no  possibility  of  escape.  So  they 
sank  from  generation  to  generation.  Very  few  can 
pretend  to  have  gone  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  fields 
in  which  they  live.  Neither  will  they  be  permitted  to 
wander  by  their  masters  if  they  have  even  the  mind  to 
do  so.  They  are,  no  doubt,  an  unfortunate,  wretched 
race.  There  is,  however,  a  silver  lining  to  the  cloud. 
Let  us  hear  what  a  Missionary,  who  had  to  do  a  great 
deal  with  them,  has  to  say : — 

The  Rev.  S.  Mateer  says: — “Yet  these  poor  people 
are  fairly  intelligent  and  readily  capable  of  instruction. 
They  are  sharp  enough  in  comprehension,  and  heartily 
enjoy  any  good  thing  that  is  said”^.  ^  . .  “Even  the 
degraded  Pulayars  have  some  excellent  qualities. 
From  lengthened  and  intimate  acquaintance,  we  have 
found  them  just  like  other  men  under  the  power  of 
many  evils  engrained  in  them  through  long  continued 
ignorance,  superstition  and  oppression,  but  simple- 
hearted,  grateful  for  kindness,  deeply  attached  to  those 
who  show  themselves  their  friends  and  improving  with 
marked  rapidity  under  instruction.  It  is  sometimes 
difficult  to  make  the  young  truthful  and  honest  in  small 
things,  but  this  is  a  defect  observable  in  many  Hindus, 
and  it  may  be  expected  to  take  two  or  three  genera¬ 
tions  to  improve  and  establish  their  moral  stamina. 
Already  some  Pulayars,  under  the  operation  of  Chris¬ 
tian  teaching  and  guidance,  have  become  admirable 
characters,— gentle,  honourable,  devout,  and  loving  ; 
and  probably  they  will  display  a  very  beautiful  type  of 
character  when  fully  christianized.” 

A  remarkable  testimony  is  borne  to  them  in  the 
Cochin  Census  Report : — “They  are  an  extremely  useful 

BJk 


490  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

and  hard-working  race  and  are  sometimes  distinguished 
by  a  rare  character  for  truth  and  honour,  which  their 
superiors  in  the  caste  scale  might  well  emulate.”1 

“Some  of  the  masters  appear  to  appreciate  indi¬ 
viduals  of  this  tribe  as  valuable  servants:  and  the 
Mission  teachers  like  them  very  much.  One  expressed 
the  opinion  that  the  Pariahs  have  more  worldly  cun¬ 
ning  and  intelligence,  but  the  Pulayars  are  more  fre¬ 
quently,  truly  pious.”  A  native  Missionary  wrote, 
“The  Pulayar  Christians  are  earnest  in  learning  to  read 
and  in  giving  contributions  for  benevolent  objects. 
Their  desire  to  learn  and  repeat  their  lessons  is 
remarkable  and  they  complain  if  instruction  is  not  duly 
supplied  to  them.  Some  children  glean  and  sell 
scattered  stalks  of  rice  to  purchase  the  Scriptures. 
The  elders  sell  plantains  and  fowls  in  order  to  be  able 
to  contribute  for  religious  purposes.”  And  one 
European  Missionary  remarked,  “There  is  a  good  deal 
of  heart  amongst  Pariahs  and  Pulayars  such  as  we  do 
not  often  see  in  the  Shanars.”2 

The  Pulayars  are  naturally  shy  and  timid.  They 
always  avoid  being  even  seen  in  the  proximity  of  high- 
castemen,  and  few  will  have  the  hardihood  to  associate 
with  them. 

We  have  seen  that  Christianity  is  doing  much  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  those  who  are  willing  to 
come  within  its  fold.  These  form  but  a  small  minority, 
and  there  still  remain  the  great  majority  of  them, 
eagerly  looking  forward  to  be  rescued  from  the  mire  in 
which  they  are  stuck.  Cannot  Hindu  philanthropists 
undertake  this  benevolent  work?  Does  the  Hindu 
religion  stand  in  the  way?  Hinduism  correctly  under¬ 
stood,  shorn  of  the  innumerable  meaningless  acces¬ 
sories  which  have  gone  to  deform  and  debase  it,  will 
certainly  allow,  yea,  even  afford  facilities  to  raise  these 
poor  unhappy  creatures  from  their  present  degraded 
condition.  But  Brahmanism  would  not  raise  a  finger 

1.  Page  206. 

2,  Native  Life  in  Travancore%  v>p.  42  to  45. 


PULAYANS 


491 


N.  14.] 

to  effect  this  philanthropic  work.  It  would  present 
a  dead  front  to  all  efforts  in  that  direction,  and  Mala¬ 
bar  is  priest-ridden  and  caste-ridden  to  so  great  an 
extent  that  the  Hindus,  as  if  to  make  decent  amends 
for  the  past,  are  doing  their  best,  to  pity  the  lot  of 
these,  to  improve  their  condition  and  in  every  way  to 
help  them  to  lead  better,  happier  and  more  godly  lives. 
Therfc  is  but  little  hope  that  any  effort  will  be  made  by 
the  so-called  Hindus  of  Malabar  in  the  near  future 
"with  the  inevitable  result  that,  sooner  or  later,  the 
whole  class  will  be  lost  to  the  Hindu  world. 

It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  a  change  for  the  better 
has  begun  to  work.  Both  in  Travancore  and  in  Cochin, 
the  Darbars  have  started  schools  for  the  Depressed 
classes  and  facilities  are  being  afforded  for  their  uplift. 
Private  enterprise  is  also  at  work.  There  are  Pulaya 
associations,  a  Pulaya  journal  and  Pulaya  representative 
sits  in  the  Srimulam  Popular  Assembly  being  nomi¬ 
nated  by  the  Darbar  to  represent  Pulaya  grievances,  by 
the  side  of  the  highest  class  Nambupri  and  the  lordly 
Nsyar.  *• 

Religion  and  worship .  The  Pulayas  are,  as  a  rule, 
spirit  worshippers.  The  spirits  of  deceased  ancestors 
called  Chavers  receive  most  attention.  These  are  pro¬ 
pitiated  by  offerings  of  such  things  as  are  supposed  to 
please  them.  The  Mstan  and  the  Panchavar  or  Anchu 
TampurakkaU  believed  to  be  the  five  Paiidavas  of  the 
Mahs  Bhsrafa,  are  specially  adored.  While  they  hold 
that  these  are  greater  than  the  sun,  there  is  one  other 
greater  than  even  these,  and  that  is  UdSya  TampurSn  or 
ParadSvafa,  the  great  God — Possessor  of  all.  They  have 
no  temples  of  their  own.  But  they  erect  temporary 
i.  In  Cochin  too  there  are  Pulaya  societies  working  for  the 
uplift  of  the  class.  A  lepresentative  of  theirs  sits  in  the  Council. 
They  have  access  to  public  roads,  public  offices,  schools  and 
hospitals.  The  Darbar  have  appointed  a  highly  paid  officer, 
called  the  Protector  of  the  Depressed  Classes,  and  they  have  also 
placed  funds  at  his  disposal  to  look  after  the  interests  of  these. 
The  Hindus,  . including  Brahmins,  are  warmly  co-operating  with 
he  Government  in  their  work  for  the  upbft  of  all  Depressed 
Classes.  Ed, 


492  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

places  of  worship  by  raising  platforms  on  trees  planted 
in  a  square,  one  at  each  corner.  Such  tree  as  Odinci 
Odier  Silk-cotton,  Rot  tier  a  and  Erythrina .  On  these 
platforms  shrines  are  [put  up  and  offerings  of  rice, 
grain,  parched  rice  and  flowers  are  made.  Occasionally 
a  fowl  is  slaughtered  and  its  blood  sprinkled  over  the 
shrine.'  They  also  attend  Hindu  temples  as  far  as 
permitted,  and  worship  Hindu  divinities  who  form 
part  of  their  pantheon.  This  however  is  always  on 
sufferance,  for  they  have  to  stand  a  good  way  off  from  the 
temples.  Yet  there  are  remarkable  instances  of  special 
privileges  being  accorded  them  at  particular  festivals 
at  certain  temples.  For  instance,  at  the  Mahad^va 
temple  at  Parachalay  in  Travancore.  Again  at  Ochira, 
they  are  allowed  to  take  part  in  the  great  sham-fight, 
give  and  receive  blows  equally  with  the  Nsyars.  At 
SastSmkottas,  a  special  Saturday  in  the  year  is  reserved 
for  the  Pulayas,  and  is  known  as  Pulaseniyazhcha  or 
Pulayas’  Saturday.  At  Kumaranellur  at  the  annual 
festival,  little  beaten  gold  images  of  the  goddess  Bha- 
gavati  are  offered  for  sale  to  the  Pulayas  outside ,  who 
make  an  offering  of  them  after  purchase*  “At*  the 
Neduvengaud  Temple, ’’says  Rev.  Mateer,  “where  two 
or  three  thousand  people,  mostly  Sudras  and  Ilavars, 
attend  for  the  annual  festival  in  March,  one-third  of 
the  whole  are  Pariahs,  Kuravars,  Vedars,  Kanikars, 
and  Pulayars  who  come  from  all  parts  around.  They 
bring  with  them  wooden  models  of  cows,  neatly  hung 
over  and  covered,  in  imitation  of  shaggy  hair  with  ears 
of  rice.  Many  of  these  images  are  brought  each  with 
a  separate  procession  from  its  own  place.  The  head¬ 
men  are  finely  dressed  with  clothes  stained  purple  at 
the  edge.  The  image  is  borne  on  a  bamboo  frame, 
accompanied  by  a  drum,  and  men  and  women  in  pro¬ 
cession — the  datter  wearing  quantities  of  beads,  such 
as  several  strings  of  red,  then  several  of  white;  or 
strings  of  beads  and  then  a  row  of  brass  ornaments 
like  rupees — and  all  uttering  the  Kurava  cry.  These 
images  are  carried  round  the  temple  and  all  amuse 


pulayans 


N.  14.J 


493 


themselves  for  the  day”.1  At  the  great  Bharani  festival 
at  Cranganur,  on  the  day  previous  to  Bharani,  at  a  given 
signal,  all  classes,  irrespective  of  caste,  are  allowed  to 
circumambulate  the  temple,  and  the  great  unwashed 
do  so  with  an  uproarious  rush. 

We  have  an  analogue  of  this  on  the  Eastern 
Coast  where  many  shrines  make  similar  provision  as 
regards  corresponding  classes.  So  also  in  Mysore, 
where,  as  pointed  out,  in  the  Indian  Antiquary  for 
March  1873,  by  Captain  Mackenzie,  the  Holyars,  who 
correspond  to  our  Pulayars,  enjoy  special  privileges. 
It  is  said  that  a  Holyar  is  even  now  generally  the  priest 
to  the  village  goddess  and^as  such,  the  annual  offerings 
of  Holyars  take  precedence  of  those  of  the  Brahmans. 
Again  at  Mailkotta  and  at  Bailor,  the  Holyars  have 
the  privilege  of  entering  the  temple  during  three  days 
in  the  year  specially  set  apart  for  them. 

Exorcism  and  devil  dancing .  Exorcism  is  in 
great  favour  with  the  Pulayars  and,  as  all  ailments  are 
attributed  to  the  agency  of  demons,  it  is  the  business 
of  the  Pujari  or  priest  to  discover  it  and  apply  the  pro¬ 
per  remedy.  He  is  master  of  the  proper  mantrams  or 
incantations  and  has  an  iron-nattle  called  Kokkara  by 
the  sound  of  which  he  divines.  It  will .  be  revealed  to 
him  by  a  kind  of  inspiration  or  possession  which 
demon  it  is  that  has  caused  the  sickness,  and  he  will 
declare,  who  it  is,  and  what  is  to  be  done  in  the  parti¬ 
cular  case.  The  following  account  given  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Mateer  of  their  practice  of  exorcism  and  devil 
dancing  is  faithful  and  interesting.  “The  Kokkara  is 
formed  of  a  plate  of  iron  turned  into  a  tube,  the  edges 
strongly  serrated  and  not  closely  united.  It  is  about 
nine  inches  in  length  and  one  and  a  half  in  diameter. 
From  it  hangs  a  chain  and  an  iron  pin  or  spike,  which 
is  rubbed' along  the  dentate  edges  of  the  iron  cylinder, 
making  a  horrid  grating  noise.  This  instrument  is 
used  by  sorcerers  amongst  Pariahs,  Vetars  and 

1.  Native  Life  in  Travancore ,  p,s6. 


494  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

Kufavars,  but  it  seems  more  especially  to  belong  to 
Pulayars.  It  is  used  in  seeking  demoniac  possession, 
in  exorcising  demons  in  divination  and  in  cases  of  sick¬ 
ness.  The  instrument  costs  from  three-quarters  to  one 
rupee  and  is  made  by  the  ordinary  blacksmith. 

1 

“When  a  youth  wishes  to  learn  this  black  art,  he 
goes  to  some  one  accomplished  in  it  and  presents  a 
parah  of  paddy,  three  fanams  in  money,  seven  cocoa- 
nuts,  and  twochuckrams'  worth  of  betel  leaf.  A  feast 
is  also  given  to  his  relatives,  costing,  say  twenty-five 
fanams.  He  learns  for  about  a  week  the  names  of  all 
the  demons  and  the  charms  with  which  the  teacher  is 
acquainted.  When  fully  instructed,  he  receives  from 
the  teacher  a  Kokkara  and  a  cowry  shell,  and  pays  a 
further  fee.  It  costs  about  100  (about  16  Rs.)  fanams 
to  learn  the  business. 

“He  is  then  called  to  cure  patients,  young  and  old, 
of  various  diseases  by  playing  this  instrument,  and,  with 
the  addition  of  a  conch  shell,  a  cocoanut  and  a  cowry, 
he  may  make  a  reputation  for  himself  and  much  gain 
by  deceiving  the  people-  All  Pulayars  honour  and  fear 
him;  Sudras  also  employ  him  in  various  matters.  When 
he  goes  to  find  omens  for  fortune-telling,  he  is  paid 
one  fanam,  for  casting  out  demons,  three  fanams  and 
three  Edungalies  of  paddy,  for  rescuing  a  pregnant 
woman  from  a  demon,  seven  fanams  for  offering  sacri¬ 
fices,  ten  fanams  and  the  flesh  of  the  fowls  slain  and 
some  toddy,  and  for  destroying  enemies  or  detecting 
robbers,  twelve  fanams. 

“In  times  of  sickness,  these  dancers  frighten 
the  people  by  announcing  the  wrath  of  the .  demons 
and  the  necessity  of  further  propitiatory  offerings 
in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  disease-  They  also  give 
sacred  ashes  to  patients  for  their  recovery. 

“When  the  priest  is  called  to  a  house  for  a  case  of 
sickness,  he  generally  comes  in  the  evening,  and  is 
first  entertained  with  food,  toddy  to  drink,  and  betel 
to  chew.  He  then  prepares  a  tender  cocoanut,  the 
flower  of  areca  palm,  and  some  parched  rice  powdered — 


PULAYANS 


495 


N.  14.] 

these  he  lays  down  and  covers  over  with  a  young 
palm  leaf.  Bringing  the  sick  person  forward,  the 
priest  draws  a  circle  with  an  iron  pen  or  stylus  round 
the  patient,  then  sticks  the  stylus  outside  the  circle. 
This  is  called  ‘putting  in  fetters’  and  by  this  the 
demon  is  supposed  to  be  arrested.  The  demon 
sometimes  causes  the  patient  to  cry  out  ‘oh,  I  am  in 
pain,  he  is  beating  me,  and  such  like;  but  the  patient 
does  not  know  who  it  is  that  is  afflicting  him.  Some¬ 
times  the  priest  will  make  the  demon  speak.  The  sick 
man  makes  a  vow,  which  is  to  be  fulfilled  in  due  course 
promising  sheep,  rice,  flowers,  palm  leaf,  and  arrack. 
All  such  vows  are  paid  at  their  annual  festivals  in 
February  or  March. 

“Or,  on  visiting  the  sick  house,  a  rice  fan  or  sieve 
containing  three  betel  leaves  with  areca  nuts,  three 
nari  of  paddy,  Ocimum  flowers,  sacred  ashes,  and  the 
Couch  and  cowry  shells,  is  laid  in  the  yard;  sitting 
before  this  fan  and  facing  the  sun,  the  officiator  begins 
;o  worship  the  demons.  While  doing  so,  he  holds  the 
shells  in  his  hand,  and  turns  to  the  four  points.  After 
noticing  some  omen,  he  takes  the  Kokkara  and  sounds 
it,  chanting  the  names  of  terrible  demons,  such  as 
Malian,  Karunkali,  Kottu-tamburan,  Ayiravilli,  the 
five  virgins?  and  repeating  incantations.  This  is  varied 
with  dancing  also. 

‘‘The  performer  plays  on  an  iron  instrument, 
sometimes  from  evening  till  noon  of  the  next  day;  and 
it  is  no  wonder  that  the  nerves  of  the  tortured  patient 
are  unstrung  by  a  whole  night’s  incessant  grating  of 
this  harsh  file.  The  sick  person  is  often  terrified  into 
confession  of  some  sin  (possibly,  in  the  case  of  hysteric 
females,  a  purely  imaginary  one),  when  a  fine  of  three 
fanams  is  imposed,  and  at  once  spent  for  toddy  which 
is  drunk  by  the  assembled  party. 

“If  death  unexpectedly  occurs,  he  consoles  the 
bereaved,  and  warns  them  that  their  offerings  to  the 
spirits  have  been  insufficient. 


496  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

“Sometimes  affliction  is  supposed  to  be  brought 
n  by  the  enmity  of  others  who  have  got  incantations 
written  on  palm  leaf  or  potsherds,  and  buried  in  the 
earth  near  the  house  or  by  the  side  of  the  well.  Another 
sorcerer  will  be  called  to  find  out  and  counteract  such 
evil  charms,  for  which  he  digs,  destroying  them  when 
found.  Of  course  this  pretence  affords  great  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  imposition”.1 

“For  devil  dancing  there  is  a  special  dress  and 
ornaments.  Any  one  may  become  a  priest  by  practice, 
but  the  profession  is  often,  as  might  be  expected,  heredi- 
ary.  The  head-dress  is  a  helmet  of  basket  work 
with  red  cords  hanging  down  from  either  side,  A 
cotton  scarf  is  worn  round  the  waist  and  bells  tied  on 
the  legs.  In  one  hand  an  old  sword  is  held,  in  the 
other  a  bell.  At  first  the  dancer  goes  round  slowly, 
then  quickly  quickens  his  motion.  He  stamps  heavily 
on  the  ground  with  the  feet  alternately,  trembling  and 
greatly  agitated. 

“On  one  occasion  in  March,  I  had  the  opportunity 
of  witnessing  a  little  of  their  dancing  at  Trivandrum 
during  the  prevalence  of  small-pox,  when  similar 
scenes  were  enacted  generally  through  the  country* 
They  had  been  engaged  in  this  festival  all  night  and  * 
the  noise  of  their  drumming  and  cheering  was  still  heard 
in  the  early  morning.  The  scrub  and  weeds  had  been 
cleared  off  a  raised  bank  by  the  side  of  the  rice-fields 
and  a  kind  of  temporary  altar,  as  above  described, 
made  on  the  stem  of  a  tree  cut  off  at  the  height  of  ten 
or  twelve  feet.  On  this  was  a  small  platform  with  a 
rude  ladder  leading  up  to  it,  and  offerings  laid'  upon  it. 
At  the  base  of  this  frail  structure  stood  two  or  three 
painted  boards,  one  of  them  the  figure  of  a  Cobra's 
hood  very  clearly  represented.  At  one  side  was  a 
shed  for  the  accommodation  of  the  people  and  at  the 
other  side  a  miniature  house,  about  two  feet  high,  which 
was  supposed  to  be  the  residence  of  the  demon,  and 
in  which  offerings  of  cocoanuts  and  other  things  were 

1.  Pages  49»  So»  5i. 


PULAYANS 


497 


N.  14.] 

placed.  Women  were  beating  rice  for  the  feast;  others 
selling  provisions;  altogether  about  a  hundred  people 
were  then  present. 

“Some  of  the  principal  officiators  were  adorned 
with  fringes  of  young  palm  leaves  tied  round  the  waist 
and  with  the  usual  brass  bells  around  the  ankles  and 
waives  of  the  legs.  Several  had  plaited  bundles  of 
palm  leaves  to  represent  horses,  on  which  they  pre¬ 
tended  to  gallop  round  the  altar,  whipping  the  horses 
and  shouting.  A  fire  was  alight  and  they  galloped 
through  and  ovet  this  until  it  was  extinguished.  On 
such  occasions  dancing  and  singing  are  sometimes 
carried  on  for  several  days  with  great  enjoyment  and 
enthusiasm. 

“In  the  North  a  curious  ‘club  dance’  is  practised 
at  night  by  the  light  of  a  large  fire.  The  dancers,  men 
with  clubs  a  foot  long,  one  in  each  hand  go  in  con¬ 
centric  circles  in  different  directions,  and  meeting  each 
other  very  prettily  strike  each  other’s  clubs,  keeping 
time  to  the  songs  they  sing — now  bending  to  catch  the 
blow  made  towards  the  feet  and  then  rising  to  ward  off 
or  meet  one  directed  towards  the  head”1. 

Ceremonies .  Degraded  as  their  general  condition 
is,  the  Pulayas  are  as  a  class  ceremonious  in  their 
habits — every  important  event  in  a  Pulaya’s  life  being 
attended  with  some  sort  of  ceremony.  When  a  child 
is  ushered  into  the  world,  the  /mother  observes  cere¬ 
monial  pollution  for  at  least  6  or  7  days,  during  which 
she  lives  separate  in  a  hut  put  up  for  the  occasion  and 
burnt  after  her  leaving  it.  There  she  is  attended  by 
her  mother-in-law  or  some  female  friend,  no  male  being 
permitted  to  go  in.  When  recovered,  she  rubs  her  body 
with  turmeric  and  oil,  and  washes  herself  before  re¬ 
entering  her  house.  The  husband  also  has  to  take  a 
sea  or  river  bath  to  wash  off  pollution.  The  child  as 
soon  as  it  is  born  is  given  a  little  cocoanut  water  and 
bathed  in  hot  water.  In  the  sixth  month  solid  food  is 

BK. 


1.  P.  SS. 


498  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

0 

given  when  friends  and  relatives  are  invited  and  regaled 
with  toddy.  At  this  ceremony  the  child  receives  its 
name,  usually  the  name  of  the  grandfather  or  father, 
or  grand-mother  or  mother  or  other  relative.  The 
names  in  common  use  are:  For  males — Aiyan  (Father 
or  lord),  Chsttan  (SSstSvu),  Veluttan  (white  one), 
Che{ayan  (hairy),  etc.  For  females,  Kali,  Chatta,  Aiyi, 
Velutja,  Chakki,  etc.  The  child’s  hair  is  cut  as  soon 
as  it  begins  to  walk,  and  the  ears  of  the  girls  are  also 
bored,  these  two  being  attended  with  some  ceremony. 
When  a  girl  attains  puberty,  she  is  removed  to  a 
separate  hut  put  up  for  the  occasion,  and  is  confined 
there  for  seven  days,  even  her  mother  being  prohibited 
from  entering  it.  After  seven  days,  she  is  bathed, 
attired  in  new  clothes,  and  brought  back  into  the  house, 
where  friends  and  relatives  meet  her  and  are  treated 
with  betel-nut,  toddy  and  arrack.  If  it  happens  to 
be  harvest  time  when  rice  is  plentiful,  rice  flour  is  put 
on  the  forehead,  arms  and  cheeks  of  the  girl. 

There  is  a  curious  ceremony  among  them,  specially 
amongst  the  Kaij$a  Pulayas  of  Travancore.  It  is 
called  the  ceremonial  entering  into  friendship.  The 
following  account  of  it  is  taken  from  a  paper  on  the 
Pulayas  of  Travancore,  published  in  the  Madras 
Review • 1 

“The  most  important  ceremony  after  a  child  is 
born  is  the  ceremonial  entrance  into  friendship,  the 
binding  of  the  tie  which  unites  man  with  man  until 
death.  It  gave  me  pleasure  to  find  that  the  ceremonial 
friendship,  instances  of  which  are  to  be  met  with 
among  many  races,  exists  among  these  degraded  people 
even  now.  The  Christian  master  never  dreams  that 
among  his  serfs  is  a  custom  which  sheds  a  world  of 
light  on  the  verse  in  his  Bible  which  says  that  there  is 
a  friend  which  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother.  Here 
is  some  small  shred  of  evidence  for  the  primitive 
identity  of  the  human  race,  and  here  is  morality,  yet 
entirely  distinct  from  the  family.  There  is  real 

i»  Vol,  2,  p.  250. 


PULAYANS 


499 


N.  14.] 

affection  in  the  relation  and  the  tie  is  dissolvable  only 
with  death. 

“A  Pulaya  can  have  only  a  single  friend  and  he 

should  be  a  member  pf  a  different  Illam,  as  all  illamites 

''  ' 

are  held  to  be  relatives.  A  man  loses  his  title,  if  he 
marries  into  the  family  of  his  friend. 

“A  Pulaya  boy,  when  he  is  between  ten  and  fifteen 
years  of  age,  contracts  a- voluntary  friendship  with  some 
other  boy  of  the  same  age  and  locality,  and  when  the 
friendship  has  ripened,  the  parents  are  informed  of  it. 
If  the  boy  is  not  socially  inclined,  his  father  selects  a 
friend  for  him  from  a  family  of  his  own  standing  or,  if 
practicable,  of  a  higher  standing.  The  father  may  of 
course  overrule  the  will  of  the  boy.  The  two  parents 
agree  among  themselves  to  meet  in  the  house  of  either 
of  them  for  the  purpose  of  solemnizing  the  friendship. 
On  the  fixed  day,  the  Vallon  and  some  other  officials 
and  thirty-two  men  of  the  Kara,  go  with  the  parent- 
guest  to  the  house  of  the  parent-host.  The  latter  takes 
them  first  to  the  toddy  shop  and  then  back  to  his  house. 
The  parents  walk  with  their  arms  over  each  other’s 
shoulder.  The  guests  are  feasted  in  the  regular 
Pulaya  fashion.  Both  for  the  dinner  and  the  preliminary 
refreshments,  the  parents  have  to  eat  from  the  same 
dish.  After  the  feast  is  over,  the  host  asks  T  ask  of 
my  lords  (u  e.y  Vallon,  etc.)  and  others  assembled 
whether  I  may  be  permitted  to  buy  friendship  by  pay¬ 
ing  money.’  When  he  says,  ‘yes’,  he  gives  120  chs.1 
to  the  other  parent  and  declares  that  he  has  got  a 
friend  for  his  son.  -  The  two  boys  then  clasp  hands, 
and  they  are  henceforth  never  to  quarrel.  The  parent 
guest  has  some  other  day  to  become  host  and  go 
through  identically  the  same  forms. 

“The  friend  is  now  regarded  as  a  member  of  the 
family.  In  theory  all  that  the  two  friends  possess  are 
to  be  enjoyed  in  common.  The  friend  comes  in  and 
goes  out  as  he  pleases.  There  is  no  important  thing 

i.  Chakram— a  small  Travancore  silver  coin  worth  7  pies, 


500  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  si. 

done  without  consulting  him.  He  is  an  important 
factor  in  all  ceremonies  especially  in  marriage.  I 
suspect  also,  that  the  friend  has  some  claim  over  a 
man’s  wife.  In  theory  the  two  friends  have  but  one 
life.  The  place  he  fills  iff  marriage  will  be  described 
later  on.  The  Vallon  gets  a  consideration  for  his 
presence.” 

We  find  an  analogue  of  this  custom  of  entering 
into  friendship  existing  in  Nepal,  and  it  is  curious  that 
practices  bearing  such  close  resemblance  should  exist 
in  countries  lying  so  far  apart  as  Nepal  and  Travan- 
core,  the  one  in  the  extreme  north  and  the  other  in 
the  extreme  south  of  India.  It  is  still  more  curious 
that  similar  practices  should  obtain  amongst  the 
aboriginal  races  of  South  India  and  those  that  inhabit 
the  Himalayan  ranges.  Here  we  may  remember  the 
striking  similarity  between  the  terms  ‘Newars*  and 
‘Nairs’  and  the  no  less  striking  similarity  in  the 
relations  between  the  sexes  amongst  the  ‘Newars’  of 
Nepal  and  the  Nsyars  of  Malabar.  Mr.  Shramana 
Ekai  Kawaguchi,  the  Japanese  explorer,  in  his  Three 
Years  in  Tibet  says: — 

“I  may  here  observe  that  in  Nepal,  as  I  found 
out  afterwards,  the  word  friend  conveys  a  much  deeper 
meaning*  is  probably,  than  in  any  other  country.  To 
be  a  friend  there  means  practically  the  same  thing,  as 
being  a  brother,, and  the  natives  have  a  curious  custom 
of  observing  a  special  ceremony  when  any  two  of  them 
tie  the  knot  of  friendship  between  them.  The  cere¬ 
mony  resembles  very  much  that  of  marriage,  and  its 
celebration  is  made  an  occasion  for  a  great  festival,  in 
which  the  relatives  and  connexions  of  the  parties  con¬ 
cerned  take  part.  To  be  brief,  the  ceremony  genet  al¬ 
ly  takes  the  form  of  exchanging  glasses  of  the  native 
drink  between  the  mutually  chosen  two,  and  they  each 
have  to  extend  their  liberalities  even  to  their  servants 
in  honor  of  the  occasion.  It  is  only  after  the  obser¬ 
vance  of  these  formalities  which  signify  a  great  deal  to 
the  natives  that  any  two  Nepalese  may  each  call  them- 


pulayans 


501 


N.  14J 

selves  the  friend  of  the  other.”  \  Verily,  an  illustration 
of  the  well-known  saying,  “Too  far  east  is  west” — in 
the  present  instance,  “Too  far  north  is  south.” 

Marriage .  The  Pulayas  like  other  Malaysii  castes 
have  both  forms  of  marriage  the  Tslikettu  and  the 
nuptials.  With  some  the  Tali  ceremony  must  be  per¬ 
formed  before  attaining  puberty,  otherwise  they  loose 
caste.  But  with  others  it  is  not  so.  Those  that  thus 
loose  caste  among  the  Kanna  Pulayas  in  the  south  be¬ 
come  the  property  of  the  Valluvan  who  may  sell  them 
and  receive  the  price  or  banish  them  beyond  Cochin. 
Before  marriage,  the  astrologer  is  consulted,  and  he  pres¬ 
cribes  the  day.  Marriage  is  always  preceded  by  frequent 
interchange  of  visits  between  the  bridegroom’s  and 
the  bride’s  relatives.  When  the  boy’s  father  first  visits 
the  girl’s  father  to  make  the  proposal,  the  matter  is  put 
off  for  some  other  day  unless  the  visit  had  been  pre¬ 
viously  arranged.  On  some  othe  r  auspicious  day,  the 
betrothal  is  made  when  the  bride’s  father  is  paid  some 
little  money  and,  in  return,  he  sends  the  bridegroom’s 
father  a  pot  of  toddy  and  a  few  measures  of  rice,  accept¬ 
ance  of  which  confirms  the  betrothal.  On  the  wedding 
day,  some  more  money  has  to  be  paid,  which  is  divided 
between  the  bride’s  relatives.  The  relatives  and 
friends  of  both  parties  assemble  in  the  marriage 
pandal  (shed)  put  up  at  the  bride’s  house.  The  bride¬ 
groom’s  party  proceeds  in  procession  to  the  house  of 
the  bride  on  the  morning  of  the  wedding  day  accom¬ 
panied  by  music  and  the  beating  of  drums.  Before  he 
enter^  the  pandal,  the  bride  has  to  go  seven  times 
around  it,  seven  bride’s  maids  going  with  the  lighted 
lamps  in  front  of  her.  After  several'  preliminary  cere¬ 
monies,  the  tali  is  tied  round  the  neck  of  the  bride, 
amongst  some  by  the  husband  himself,  amongst  others 
by  his  sister.  There  is  a  curious  custom  which  pre¬ 
vents  the  mother  of  the  bride  from  approaching  the 
bridegroom  any  time  on  the  wedding  day  or  after  on 


i.  Pages  29— »$oe 


502  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [C  2r. 

pain  of  entailing  ceremonial  pollution.  Of  course, 
there  is  the  inevitable  feasting  at  which  a  large  quantity 
of  todcly  and  arrack  is  quaffed.  Dancing  is  kept  up 
to  the  strain  of  music  all  the  night.  In  the  early 
morning,  the  couple  worship  the  sun-god,  and  leave 
for  the  bridegroom’s  house,  invoking  the  blessing  of 
that  deity.  But,  before  leaving,  a  curious  ceremony  is 
observed.  A  conch-shell  is  put  in  a  sieve  and  spun 
round  to  discover  whether  the  union  will  turn  out  a 
happy  one  or  not.  The  wise  men  of  the  caste  give  the 
interpretation  according  as  the  shell  points  to  the 
various  points  of  the  compass.  If  it  points  to  the  east, 
it  is  very  lucky,  if  to  the  north,  lucky;  the  west  is  not 
considered  specially  preferrable  but  passable.  If  it 
falls  to  the  south,  the  marriage  is  pronounced  to  be 
the  most  unpropitious. 

There  are  certain  interesting  marriage  observances 
prevalent  among  the  Pulayas  worth  noticing,  but-it  is 
difficult  to  know  if  they  are  observed  by  all  of  them. 
Even  two  Pulayas  from  the  same  place  give  inconsist¬ 
ent  accounts. 

(1)  The  first  ceremony  before  marriage  is  what  is 
called  seeing  the  woman .  ( cf .  the  observance  known  as 
Mukha  Darsanam — ‘seeing  the  face’ — of  the  Narpbu{iri 
Brahmans.)  This  ought  theoretically  to  be  four  years 
before  marriage.  The  husband-elect,  his  ‘friend’, 
father  and  maternal  uncle  go  to  the  girl's  house  to  see 
her  for  themselves  and  be  satisfied.  Then  for  four 
years  annually,  at  the  Oriam  festival,  the  male  party 
have  to  keep  up  their  claim  on  the  girl  by  giving 
presents  of  4  parahs  of  rice  and  40  cocoanuts  to  her 
guardians.  The  boy  and  his  ‘friend’  take  the  present 
to  the  girl’s  hut  and  are  feasted  and  sent  back  witW  a 
few  necessaries ,  viz. ,  2  Puttils,  a  big  mat-like  basket 
used  both  as  mattress  and  blanket,  also  for  putting •( 
things  in,  or  as  a  head-cover;  and  2  Vaftis  or  smaller  ) 
baskets  made  of  grass. 

(2)  The  next  observance  is  what  is  known  as  the  1 
Kuri  Manjada  or  marriage  arrangement*  The  boy, 


PULAYANS 


503 


N;  14J 

his  ‘friend*,  father  and  guardian  go  to  the  girl’s  house 
and  make  arrangements  about  fixing  the  day  and  hour 
of  marriage.  Here  too  presents  have  to  be  given. 
This  ceremony  is  also  known  by  other  names  which  are 
curious  and  significant:  Mekkanam  Iduka  which 
probably  means  taking  possession  of  the  person  by  giv¬ 
ing  a  due  rent,  (the  same  word  is  used  for  buying  lands 
of  jenmies — landlords);  Parakallu  Erika  (throw  stones), 
probably  a  ‘decayed  metaphor’,  a  relic  of  some  old 
world  symbolic  action  whereby  it  was  made  visible  that 
possession  was  taken;  Mundu  Veyka  (put  or  give 
clothes)  corresponding  to  the  Nsyar  custom. 

(3)  Another  observance  consists  in  the  boy  and 
his  ‘friend*  giving  a  rupee  and  odd  to  the  girl  four 
weeks  before  marriage,  for  defraying  the  expenses  of 
her  oil-bath,  for  the  weeks  that  intervene  between  the 
betrothal  and  the  marriage. 

(4)  Then  follows  the  important  custom  of  fixing 
on  the  auspicious  hour  of  marriage,  known  as  MuhQr- 
J{am  by  one  astrologer.  The  ‘friend’  takes  no  part  in 
this  ceremony.  It  is  the  Ka^iysn  or  Hindu  Astrologer 
who  officiates.  He  goes  through  his  usual  calculations 
and  appoints  an  hour.  By  comparing  the  stars  under 
which  tlie  parties  are  born,  he  sees  whether  there  is 
affinity  between  their  nativities.  If  there  is  not,  some 
brother  of  the  bridegroom-elect  will  be  found  to  possess 
the  affinity,  and  he  marries  the  girl  and  gives  her  to  the 
real  husband  and  the  relatives  are  cheated!  The  astro¬ 
loger  also  prescribes  how  the  gods  and  spirits  of  ances¬ 
tors  are  to  be  propitiated.  He  likewise  fixes  the  time 
for  erecting  the  marriage  pandal — when  a  pillar  has*  to 
be  fixed  [cf.  the  Pozhutoon  Iduka  of  the  Nsyars),  and  the 
time  for  boiling  paddy  (cf.  the  Pozhu  nel  Puzhunguka 
of  the  Nsyars). 

(5)  On  the  evening  previous  to  the  marriage,  the 
bridegroom’s  ‘friend’  and  his  guardian  and  about  12 
men  of  the  village  are  invited  to  the  boy  s  house .  There 
some  interesting  ceremonies  are  gone  through,  which 
befit  the  boy  and  ‘friend*  to  enter  on  the  married 


504  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

estate.  In  the  first  place,  the  two  guardians  take  some 
water  in  two  brass  vessels,  put  51  pieces  of  plantain 
leaves  therein,  and  taking  out  one  piece  at  a  time,  rub 
each  his  own  boy’s  body  with  it  from  head  to  sole,  The 
boys  stand  facing  each  other.  This  is  known  as 
Kudumbi  Polutu  Tirka  and  probably  symbolises  the 
washing  away  of  the  young  people’s  crudeness  and 
foibles  of  youth,  before  admitting  them  to  the  dignity 
of  manhood.  The  next  ceremony  is  called  Mayyi  Kura 
Tirka>  which  probably  means  wiping  off  the  deficien¬ 
cies  of  the  body.  The  guardians  take  fire  and  the  husks 
of  rice  in  the  outer  shell  of  a  cocoa  nut,  and  when  it 
begins  to  smoke,  turns  it  seven  times  simultaneously 
round  the  waist  of  the  boys  and  then  themselves  go 
round  them  once.  This  certainly  symbolises  the  puri¬ 
fication  of  the  body,  perhaps  of  the  loins. 

It  is  very  interesting  that  we  have  in  these  customs 
a  symbolic  illustration  of  the  purification  by  fire  and 
water ,  so  often  referred  to  in  the  Bible .  Fire  and  water 
are  regarded  as  emblems  of  purification  among  many 
peoples. 

(6)  After  the  ceremony  of  purification  is  over,  the 
boys  are  dressed  with  a  clean  white  cloth,  a  black 
handkerchief  is  tied  round  the  waist,  and  a  knife,  the 
emblem  of  manhood,  stuck  in.  The  forehead  and 
breast  are  painted  with  wetted  flour,  just  as  the  higher 
classes  do  with  an  odoriferous  mixture  of  sandal  paste, 
rose-water,  etc.  The  guardians  then  whisper  in  the 
ears  of  the  boys  seven  times  the  word  Kshamay  which 
means  ‘forbearance’  and  ‘forgiveness’,  which  is  certainly 
one  of  the  chief  qualities  which  ought  to  distinguish  a 
man  from  a  boy.  This  ceremony  is  called  ear-incantation 
(Cheviyil  mantram),  possibly  intended  originally  to 
impress  on  the  aspirant  for  manhood  the  necessity  of 
possessing  the  quality  aforesaid. 

(7)  After  the  ceremonies  at  the  boy’s  house,  the 
male  party  proceed  to  the  house  of  the  bride.  The  boy 
and  his  ‘friend’  are  dressed  with  two  cloths  tied  round 


frULAYANS 


60* 


the  waist,  one  over  the  other  with  a  knife  and  style 
stuck  in.  The  bride  goes  round  the  marriage  pandal 
seven  times  with  seven  married  women  holding  lamps 
going  in  front  of  her.  She  is  then  seated  in  the  pandal 
with  3  measures  of  rice,  a  cocoanut  and  a  lamp  placed 
in  a  brass  plate  in  front  of  her.  The  bridegroom  also 
on  arrival  goes  round  the  pandal  seven  times  and  sits 
outside.  A  functionary  called  the  Kudummi  Chumki 
breaks  the  cocoanut  open  and  sprinkles,  the  contents 
with  some  fresh  water  added,  on  the  head  of  the  bride¬ 
groom  and  the  bride  three  times. 

* 

(8)  Next  they  go  to  bath  in  some  neighbouring 
pool  or  stream,  first  the  man,  and  next  the  bride;  when 
they  have  gone  out,  the  bride’s  mother  spreads  a  mat 
specially  made  by  her  for  the  occasion  in  the  middle  of 
the  pandal.  On  it  she  places  3  measures  of  rice  and 
some  minute  particles  of  gold;  over  it  is  put,  according 
to  the  importance  of  the  Illam,  a  big  brass  plate  a 
plank  covered  with  white  and  black  cloth,  a  simple 
plank,  or  lastly  a  plantain  leaf.  The  bridegroom  now 
returns  from  the  bath  and,  after  making  seven  rounds, 
enters  and  stands  on  the  plank.  The  bride  soon  follow^ 
and  makes  three  rounds,  when  four  women  hold  a 
canopy  of  cloth  over  her  head  and  seven  virgins  go  in  front 
of  her.  The  foremost  virgin  holds  a  lamp  in  one  hand 
and  a  plate  of  rice  and  leaves  in  the  other.  Her  circuit 
over,  the  bride  enters  in  and  stands  beside  her  man. 
Four  persons  raise  them  up,  with  the  plank,  in  their 
hiands  and  set  them  down.  The  man  faces  to  the  east 
and  the  woman  to  the  west.  According  to  another 
account,  the  ‘friend’  isaJso  raised,  and  he  stands  behind 
the  bride  facing  west,  ^he  girl’s  guardian  puts  the 
‘wedding  neck-lace’ — a  gold  bead  on  a  string — on  the 
head  of  his  ward,  and  then  hands  it  over  to  the  boy. 

Now  the  drummers  begin  to  drum  and  the 
Komarattan  and  others  sing  the  song  for  blessing  the 
neck-lace.  When  they  sing  “O  Sun-God,  who  rises  in 
the  east,  bless  this  neck-lace  and  this  string”,  the 
bride-groom  holds  the  string  with  his  two  hands  and 

BL. 


506  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21, 

raises  it  a  little  and  when,  in  the  same  words,  they  ask 
a  blessing  of  the  Moon-God  who  sets  in  the  west,  the 
Earth  Goddess  who  is  below,  and  the  God  of  Thunder 
who  is  above,  he  turns  the  neck-lace  to  the  west,  lowers 
it,  and  holds  it  high  above  the  head.  Next  he  makes  a 
circle  with  it  and  then  straightens  it  again,  when  dif¬ 
ferent  virtues  from  above  are  supposed  to  descend  on 
it.  Repeating  the  ceremonial  words  of  rejection  and  so 
rejecting,  one  by  one,  the  neck-laces  or  virtues  of  death, 
quarrel,  blackness,  stagnancy  and  blood,  he  jumps 
and  catches  hold  of  the  neck-lace  when  the  diamond 
virtue  descends  on  it,  and  immediately  transfers  it  to 
the  peck  of  his  bride.  That  is,  he  puts  the  string  on 
her  neck,  and  makes  one  woof  of  it.  Then,  he  leisurely 
goes  behind  and  hardens  the  knot,  or  the  ‘friend’,  who 
is  standing  behind,  does  it  for  him.  This  closes  the 
religious  part  of  the  ceremony.  The  husband  is  raised 
up  in  the  arms  of  his  brother-in-law  or  ‘friend’,  and  the 
wife  in  the  arms  of  her  guardian  and  taken  inside  the 
house.  Can  the  Aryan  Nambutiri  Brahman  steeped 
in  his  rituals  and  ceremonies  be  more  ceremonial  than  * 
these  uncouth  aboriginal  Pulayas? 

When  the  marriage  ceremony  is  going  on  or  just 
after  it,  four  sisters  of  the  bride-groom  come  to  the  door 
with  music  and  songs.  They  are  received  with  presents 
by  their  husbands  and  taken  inside  the  house.  They 
eat  rice  all  together  out  of  the  very  pot  in  which  it  was } 
boiled.  When  the  husband  and  wife  have  come  back 
to  the  pandal,  the  wife’s  sister  and  husband  spread 
seven  measures  and  a  half  of  boiled  rice  and  curry 
on  leaves  before  them.  The  ‘friend*  gives  seven  big 
mouthfuls  out  of  it,  first  to  the  wife  and  then  to  the  man. 
What  remains  is  eaten  by  seven  bachelors  who  are 
styled  the  young  men  who  came  to  see  the  marriage 
(probably),  in  the  place  of  the  unmarried.  They  sit 
'on  one  leg,  stretch  out  the  other,  and  shout  aloud* 
Ittchoyiye ,  when  eating. 

Next  the  guests  are  fed  and  the  last  item  is  the 
subscription*  The  relatives  of  the  bride  and  the  men 


PULAYANS 


507 


N.  14.1 

of  the  village  put  their  subscriptions  into  a  plate  or 
piece  of  cloth  placed  before  the  husband.  The  amount 
is  distributed  among  those  who  took  part' in  the  cere¬ 
monies. 

These  observances  are  more  prevalent  among  the 
Pulayasof  Travancore  than  elsewhere.  Also  we  may  note 
the  prominent  part  taken  by  the  ‘friend’  throughout.1- 

Tandu  Marriage .  Among  the  Tanda  Pulayas, 
there  is  a  special  ceremony  called  the  Tandu  marriage, 
performed  for  every  girl  during  her  7th  or  8th  year. 
It  consists  in  dressing  the  girl  on  an  auspicious  day, 
generally  at  midday,  with  the  leafy  garment  made  of 
the  Tandu  plant.  This  ceremony  too  is  attended  with 
feasting  rice,  curry,  toddy  and  fish  being  largely  used. 
Until  the  Tanc}u  marriage  is  over,  the  girl  is  not 
permitted  to  wear  this  garment. 

Polygamy,  Polyandry  and  Divorce .  Polygamy  is 
not  only  not  interdicted  but  is  practised;  often  a  single 
Pulaya  has  4  or  5  wives.  But  polyandry,  even  of 
the  fraternal  type,  does  not  exist  among  them,  though  a 
brother  is  not  prohibited  from  marrying  his  deceased 
brother’s  widow.  Divorce  is  easy  enough,  each  party 
being  allowed  to  separate  as  he  or  she  wants.  If  the  bride 
desires  the  divorce,  the  bride’s  money  has  to  be 
returned.  If  the  bride-groom,  he  has  only  to  take  the 
girl  back  to  her  parents  and  leave  her  there.  Adultery 
is  severely  punished  by  the  castemen,  and  it  is  believed 
that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  virgins  will  wreck  severe 
vengeance  on  the  sinning  woman. 

Ceremonies  after  marriage .  The  Vayattu  Ponkala , 
an  imitation  of  the  Hindu  Pumsavanam  and  the  Nsyar 
Pulikuti,  is  observed  in  the  7th  month  after  pregnancy, 
when  an  oblation  of  rice  is  offered  to  the  rising  sun, 
and  the  assembled  Pulayas  feasted.  The  exorcisor  per¬ 
forms  various  incantations  for  the  safe  delivery  of  the 
child.  A  few  drops  of  tamarind  juice  are  also  poured 
into  the  mouth  of  the  pregnant  woman. 

1.  See  Vol.  2,  The  Madras  Review ,  p.  256*/  seq. 


108 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  at. 

Inheritance .  The  class  is  so  poor  that  there  will 
be  nothing  to  inherit.  Still  there  are  among  them 
those  who  follow  the  MakkattSyam  and  Marumakka- 
Jtayam  system  of  inheritance. 

Death  and  succeeding  ceremonies .  The  dying  man  is 
given  by  his  relatives  some  rice  water  or  Kanjee  “because 
the  soul  is  leaving”.  The  body  is  washed,  cocoanyt  oil 
and  turmeric  are  rubbed  over  the  corpse  and  it  is 
covered  with  an  unbleached  cloth.  Vsykkari  or  a  pinch 
of  rice  along  with  a  small  coin  is  also  put  into  the 
mouth.  The  body  is  buried  in  some  retired  place. 
The  grave  is  levelled  and  smeared  with  cowdung.  After 
the  corpse  is  laid  down,  a  short  prayer  is  made  to 
Utaya  Tampuran .  Pollution  lasts  for  7  days.  On  the 
seventh  day,  the  priest  brings  a  handful  of  earth  from  the 
grave  with  which  he  moulds  a  rude  imkge  of  the  dead 
man.  Turmeric,  rice-flour,  etc.,  are  put  on  it  and  the 
spirit  of  the  deceased  is  invoked  to  enter  it.  The  spirit 
is  supposed  to  pass  from  the  image  to  the  priest  and 
from  him  to  a  doth  which  a  man  standing  by  holds 
like  a  sheet.  The  priest  and  the  man  then  go  and 
bathe,  dipping  the  cloth  in  water  and  folding  it  returns 
to  the  house.  The  cloth  is  then  placed  on  a  plaited 
palm  leaf  and  offerings  of  rice,  paddy,  toddy  and  arrack, 
betel-leaf  and  areca-nut  are  placed  round  it.  The 
conch  is  spun  to  ascertain  if  the  spirit  had  accepted  the 
offering  and  if  the  spira  of  the  conch  points  to  the  spirit 
in  the  cloth,  the  offering  is  taken  as  accepted.  The 
cloth  is  afterwards  taken  to  the  yard  and  is  sprinkled 
with  water  and  oil  mixed  with  turmeric.  Some  food 
is  then  presented  to  the  spirit  and  the  priest  repeats 
mantrams  with  a  view  to  retain  the  spirit  in  the  house. 
It  is  supposed  to  have  left  the  cloth  which  is  taken  to 
the  yard  and  opened.  After  this  no  further  Sradha 
or  funeral  ceremony  is  performed. 

Family  etiquette •  The  Pulayas  show  great  respect 
to  their  elders  and  strictly  enforce  rules  with  regard  to 
their  conduct  at  home.  In  the  presence  of  an  elder 
brother  a  younger  brother  cannot  sit  down*  Before 


PULAYANS 


N.  14.I 


509 


a  father,  grown-up  daughters  cannot  sit.  Sons  sit  on 

a  somewhat  lower  level.  Nephews  and  nieces  should  not 
sit  on  the  same  level  with  the  maternal  uncle.  No  one 
sits  on  the  same  level  with  the  head  Pulayan  or  the  chief, 
appointed  by  the  ruling  power,  of  whom  there  is  one  in 
every  village. 

Caste  government .  The  internal  economy  of  the 
community  is  regulated  by  the  Vallons  who  preside 
over  caste  assemblies.  We  have  already  observed 
that  formerly  there  were,  it  is  alleged,  kings  among 
them,  though  the  Rev:  Mr.  Mateer  thinks,  that  it  is 
impossible  that  such  a  degraded  race  could  have  ever 
exercised  territorial  sovereignty,  or  even  independent 
authority  in  the  community  itself.  The  Pulayas  of 
Cochin  and  Travancore  have  their  respective  chiefs — 
those  of  Travancore  as  already  observed  acknowledge 
Aykkara  yajamanan,  while  those  in  Cochin  have  a 
chief  called  AlanchSri  Kurupa.  Aykkara  yajamanan 
is  also  known  as  Aykkara  Tamar;  yajamanan  means 
lord,  and  is  the  title  which  people  generally  use  in 
addressing  those  who  hold  authority  over  them.  And 
Tamar,  Dr.  Gundhert  says,  “means  one’s  own  people, 
an  owner”  clearly  indicating  the  relationship  between 
the  lord  and  his  following.  He  lives  in  TykattuSSeri 
in  Travancore  and  claims  to  be  descended  from  men 
who  had  been  once  rulers  of  the  land.  He  held  auth¬ 
ority  over  the  strip  of  country  lying  between  the  sea 
and  the  backwater,  to  the  north  of  Alleppey  and  south 
of  Arukutffi,  where  he  had  some  private  property.  He 
used  to  derive  a  very  trifling  revenue  of  a  sixtieth 
part  of  income  (perhaps  in  analogy  to  the  Shadbha- 
gam  due  to  kings  according  to  the  Sastras);  according 
to  other  accounts  a  Karavaram  of  3  pies  from  each, 
Pulaya  (a  poll  tax).  There  are  other  perquisites  due 
to  him  on  ceremonial  occasions  such  as  marriages,  etc. 
These  and  other  revenues  he  used  to  exact  even 
within  living  memory.  The  present  representative  of 
Aykkara  yajamanan  has  private  lands  of  his  own,  and 
such  of  the  headmen  who  live  within  his  jurisdiction 


510  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.21. 

still  pay  him  a  portion  of  their  income.  It  js  signifi¬ 
cant  that  while  all  Malabar  Rajas  trace  their  authority 
to  the  gift  made  by  Che ra man  Perumal,  the  Pulaya 
kings  curiously  say  that  they  were  independent  of  the 
Perumsl  and  only  acknowledged  him  as  their  suzerain, 
receiving  a  lace  cap  said  to  be  still  preserved  by  their 
representatives-  They  preserve  to  the  present  day 
some  of  the  insignia  of  royalty  such  as  a  gold-handled 
sword,  a  lace  cap  (in  addition  to  the  one  presented  by 
Perumsl),  a  silver  plated  rod  of  office,  a  shield  of 
leopard’s  skin,  lance,  bows  and  arrows.  The  king 
lives  in  a  big  house  and  not  in  a  hut  like  other 
Pulayas.  A  Pulaya  fishing  basket,  placed  in  front 
of  the  gate,  keeps  off  the  unwary  wayfarer  from 
mistaking  the  house  for  a  casteman's,  for  the  house 
being  a  substantially  built  one  is  apt  to  be  mistaken  for 
a  casteman’s  house,  as  no  Pulaya  is  allowed  by  the 
higher  castes  to  live  except  in  a  low  hut.  The  king’s 
family  is  still  held  in  honour,  all  Pulayas  and  Parayas 
do  obeisance  before  the  king,  speaking  in  his  presence 
only  with  the  mouth  covered  as  a  sign  of  respect.  He 
still  wields  the  power  of  excommunication  and  absolu¬ 
tion.  He  has  a  minister  called  Ponnillattu  Vallon  who 
lives  close  by,  and  whose  badges  of  office  are  a  gold 
knife  and  style,  a  short  umbrella  and  a  rod  of  office,  all 
presented  by  the  king.  Under  the  king  are  two  chiefs, 
one  for  the  north  called  Tatteri  Acchen  (father  or 
master  of  Tatteri). and  one  for  the  south  called  Mannath 
Koil  Vallon  (King  Valion  of  Mafinatt).  Under 
them  are,  or  were,  Head  Vallons  who  held  authority 
over  small  pieces  of  territory.  Subordinate  to  these 
were  Vallons  or  headman  of  each  Kara  or  village,  who 
at  present  do  really  exercise  authority.  The  office  was 
hereditary  and,  when  such  appointments  came  to  be 
made  by  the  local  Rajas,  the  choice  fell  ordinarily  on 
the  heir  of  the  previous  Valion. 

At  present,  the  Kara  is  the  social  unit  of  the 
Pulayas  and  the  Vallon  of  §ach  Kara  is  practically 
independent.  The  office-bearers  of  a  Kara  are  called 


IPULAYANS 


511 


N.  i4.l 

Sthanikal  or  those  who  hold  delegated  authority.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  some  there  are  eight  such  officers  and 
according  to  others  ten.  The  more  important  are  the 
Vallon ,  the  Kuruppa ,  two  Kaikkarans,  the  Vatikkaran , 
the  Komarattan  and  the  santu  There  are  besides,  the 
Edapakal ,  the  Nat  til  Sthani  and  the  Desavazhi. 

The  Vallon  was.  the  Valia  avan  or  the  ‘great 
man’,  originally  appointed  by  the  Pulaya  King,  but  who 
now  derives  his  authority  from  the  local  Raja  who 
grants  him  certain  privileges.  Originally,  he  had,  by 
virtue  of  his  office  the  following  five  privileges  confer¬ 
red  on  him:—(i)  The  long  umbrella,  a  circular  and 
slightly  concave  umbrella,  made  of  palm  leaves  and  raised 
on  a  very  long  bamboo  handle.  The  length  of  the  handl  3 
bears  a  direct  ratio  to  the  dignity  of  the  bearer.  (2) 
The  dignity  of  holding  the  umbrella  with  five  colours. 
(3)  The  bracelet  of  honour.  (4)  The  box  for  keeping 
betel  leaves,  etc.  (5)  A  long  ear-ring  made  of  gold. 
No  other  Pulaya  may  use  any  of  these  things.  His 
functions  are  thus  described: — 

He,  as  President  of  the  Council  of  Elders,  is  the 
supreme  judge  and  law-giver  or,  to  speak  more 
accurately,  the  depositary  and  declarer  of  custom. 
His  verdict  is  binding  in  charges  of  adultery,  wife 
stealing,  etc.  His  presence  and  sanction  is  required 
for  marriage,  burial,  the  entering  into  friendship  and, 
in  fine,  all  social  acts.  He  has  customary  fees.  He  is 
responsible  for  the  discipline  and  good  behaviour  of 
his  people,  and  is  the  judicial  and  social  head  of  the 
society  which  he  rules.  The  Pulayan  calls  him  lord, 
and  has  to  do  him  obeisance. 

(2)  Next  in  dignity  comes  the  Kutuppu  supposed 
to  be  a  corruption  of  Kurippan  (one  who  makes  notes 
or  writes)  or  accountant.  It  may  be  remembered  that 
one  of  the  slave  classes  goes  by  the  name  of  Kanakkan 
which  means  literally  accountant.  The  Kuruppu  assists 
the  Vaijon  in  the  exercise  of  authority.  In  the  trial  of 
offences,  he  takes  the  chief  part  in  sifting  evidence*  He 


512  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L. 

declares  on  the  facts  of  the  case.  The  Vallon  who  sits 
by  in  solemn  silence  then  gives  the  judgment. 

(3)  Kaikksrans  or  Wardens .  To  each  Kara  two 
such  are  elected  at  a  popularg  assembly.  Often  the 
office  is  hereditary.  They  are  representatives  of  the 
people  keeping  the  other  officers  in  discipline  and  as¬ 
sisting  the  Kuruppu  in  investigating  the  facts  of  the 
case  in  trials. 

(4)  The  Vatikksran  (the  rod-holder).  He  is 
the  constable  who  brings  parties  to  a  suit,  keeps  order 
and  executes  sentences. 

(5)  The  KomarattSn  or  Devil  Exorcisor  is  a 
most  important  functionary  who  is  in  evidence  at  all 
important  ceremonies,  from  before  birth  to  after  burial. 
These  six  constitute  the  Council. 

(6)  The  other  Sthanikals  or  dignitaries  are  (1)  the 
Sinti  or  priest  who  attends  to  the  temple  and  feeds 
the  gods;  (2)  the  Nattilsth^ni  who  is  chosen  from 
among  the  people  and  whose  permission  (for  which  he 
has  to  be  paid)  is  necessary  for  a  Pulayan  of  another 
Kara  to  marry  into  the  Kara;  (3)  the  Desavsli,  who 
settles  some  disputes;  and  (4)  the  Etapakal,  who  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  know  the  ins  and  outs  of  the  people  and  who 
helps  the  Council. 

Of  course  in  these  days  of  centralised  government, 
with  duly  constituted  officers  to  administer  justice  in 
its  various  forms,  an  organisation  like  the  above  can 
exercise  but  little  authority.  But  it  is  tolerably  certain 
that  formerly  it  had  exercised  much  larger  authority 
than  at  present.  In  the  Cochin  State,  the  Rajas  still 
appoint  Vallons  and  Kufup. 

15.  The  Parayas.  The  Parayas  of  Malabar 
belong  to  the  s  lave  class.  They  are  the  out-castes  of 
society,  so  much  so  that  the  term  Paraya  has  come 
to  mean  an  out-caste.  The  word  is  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  a  Sanskrit  root  meaning,  ‘abandoned’. 
Some  derive  it  from  Pafa,  a  ‘drum’,  and  the  caste  is  said 
to  delight  in  drum-beating  and  are  generally  called  on 


513 


N.  15.]  PARAYAS 

to  beat  the  drum  at  the  funeral  procession  of  the  Tamil 
Sudras  in  the  Tamil  districts.  The  Malayaii  section 
being  emigrants  from  the  Eastern  Coast  retain  their 
Tamil  caste  name.  In  Malabar,  however,  they  are  not 
drummers.  Though  belonging  to  the  same  class  as  the 
Tamil  Parayas,  the  customs  of  the  Malaysia  and  the 
Tamil  sections  are  by  no  means  the  same. 

Origin  of  the  caste .  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  Parayas  along  with  the  Pulayas  and  other  lower 
classes  are  descendants  of  indigenous  or  original  inha¬ 
bitants  of  South  India.  The  Hill  tribes,  we  shall  have 
to  mention  later  on,  haye  also  been  resident  in  South 
India  ever  since  the  world’s  history.  Of  course, 
Brahman  tradition,  as  usual,  gives  the  class  a  start  in 
keeping  with  their  own  supremacy*  The  Brahmans 
say  that  the  Parayas  had  their  origin  in  the  connection 
of  a  Brahman  woman  with  a  low  caste  man.  There  is 
nothing  unlikely  in  this.  But  when  they  proceed  to 
add  that  the  degradation  of  the  class  was  due  not  sim¬ 
ply  to  this  but  also  to  the  curse  pronounced  by  the 
irate  Viswamitra  against  his  own  flesh  and  blood,  and 
against  those  who  happened  to.  cross  his  will,  we  begin 
to  suspect  the  truth  of  the  story.  According  to 
another  legend,  it  was  not  Viswamitra  who  cursed  his 
progeny  but  Vasishta,  the  son  of  Urvasi,  (a  heavenly 
nymph)  and  husband  of  Arundhati,  born  as  a  Cha^dsla 
woman  of  the  Chakkali  (shoe-maker)  caste.  He  had 
by  her  100  sons,  96  of  whom  disobeyed  their  father  and 
were  on  that  account  degraded  to  the  Panchama  (fifth) 
caste  while  the  four  others  remained  Brahmans. 

Sub-divisions.  Our  author  refers  to  two  sub¬ 
divisions  of  the  caste ;  (1)  the  Canni  Parayas  and  (2) 
the  Asse  Parayas  which  divisions  seem  not  to  be  extant 
at  present.  According  to  Buchanan,  there  are  three 
kinds  of  Parayas,  viz,y  (1)  The  ‘Parayan’  properly  so 
called,  the  Perum  Parayan  and  the  Mutrava  Parayan. 
The  Ethnographical  survey  of  the  Cochin  State  says, 
that  they  are  divided  into  18  sub-castes  like  the  Vellalas. 


514  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

The  highest  of  them  is  the  Vailuva  Pafayan.  Valiuvan 
is  also  the  highest  sub-caste  among  the  Pulayas  of  the 
State.  A  large  number  of  Parayas  seem  originally  to 
have  migrated  to  the  hills,  while  some  returned  and 
settled  down  on  the  plains.  Thus  there  are  two  classes, 
viz. ,  the  Hill  Parayas  and  (2)  Parayas  of  the  plains 
with  different  modes  of  living. 

Varthema  does  not  mention  the  Parayas  by  name, 
but  he  notices  a  sixth  class  coming  immediately  after 
the  Pulaya  which  he  calls  ‘Hirava’,  “and  these  he  says 
plant  and  gather  in  rice”.  Evidently  he  refers  to  the 
Parayas,  agriculture  being  still  part  of  their  occupation. 
Barbosa  speaks  of  the  ‘Pareni’,  i.  e.y  ‘Pareas’  as  living 
in  “desert  places.”  “Their  very  look”  he  adds,  “is 
contamination.  They  live  on  fruits,  roots,  etc.”  The 
account  given  in  Purchas  is  that  “the  Pareas  are  of 
worse  esteem,  and  live  in  deserts  without  commerce  of 
any,  reputed  worse  than  the  Devil”. 

General  appearance .  Physically,  the  Parayas  are 
stronger  than  the  Pulayas,  probably  because  of  their 
diet.  They  are  inveterate  flesh  eaters,  not  disdaining 
even  the  dead  bodies  of  cows,  etc.,  that  lie  about  rotting. 
In  fact  they  claim  such  dead  bodies  as  belonging  to 
them  by  right.  Their  bodies  are  better  developed. 
They  are  either  dark  coloured  or  brown  often  verging 
on  black.  They  have  black  hair  rarely  treated  with 
oil.  Their  nose  is  mostly  large,  round  and  black. 
They  seldom  have  a  wash  and  are  dirty  in  their  dress. 
Those  about  Trivandrum  are  said  to  be  of  strong 
physique  and  bold.,  The  females  there  are  rather  fair 
and  licentious.  They  rub  turmeric  on  their  bodies  and 
faces  and  wear  numerous  heavy  ornaments. 

Clothing  and  Ornaments .  The  males  wear  small 
mundus  or  pieces  of  cloth  round  the  loins  scarcely 
reaching  down  to  the  knees.  Broader  pieces  of  cloth, 
or  even  a  second  one  on  their  shoulders  are  not  used, 
because  of  fear  or  respect  for  higher  castes.  The  hill 
Pafavas  used  to  wear  the  barks  of  trees  for  their 


PARAYANS  AT  WICKER  WORK 


PARAYAS 


515 


N-  IS‘] 

garments  but  now  use  cotton  cloths.  Their  ears  are  bored 
and  sometimes  the  holes  are  large  enough  to  admit  of 
four  or  five  ear-rings  in  each  ear.  They  adorn  their 
fingers  with  brass  rings.  Some  allow  the  hair  on  the 
head  to  grow  and  some  crop  it  and  do  not  shave  their 
face.  The  women  dress  somewhat  similarly  to  the  men. 
They  fold  round  their  waist  a  tougher  and  thicker 
piece  of  cloth  slightly  longer  than  those  of  the  men,  but 
never  going  beyond  the  knees.  The  rest  of  the  body 
is  bare.  The  hair  is  tied  in  a  knot  on  the  top  of  the 
head  slightly  inclined  to  the  back.  A  wooden  disc  for 
the  ear  which  is  made  wide  enough  to  insert  a  large 
heavy  thing,  neck-laces  of  glass  beads  for  the  neck, 
brass  bangles  for  the  arm,  and  brass  rings  for  the 
fingers  are  their  favourite  ornaments. 

Habitation.  Their  habitations  are  of  the  simplest 
kind.  They  are  mere  huts  propped  upon  sticks.  In  the 
south  they  live  in  hamlets.  They  sleep  on  the  bare 
floor  or  on  plaited  cocoanut  leaves  or  old  mats.  Dress* 
food  and  dwelling  are  all  alike  uncleanly. 

Food  and  drink .  The  food  of  the  Pafayas  like  that 
of  the  Pulayas  is  rice  when  they  can  afford  to  get  it. 
The  hill  men  live  upon  wild  roots  almost  wholly.  The 
flesh  of  cattle  left  dead  by  the  road-side  is  their  perqui¬ 
site.  The  death  of  a  cow  or  bullock  is  with  them  the 
season  of  jubilee,  never  stopping  to  enquire  into  its 
cause.  They  are  known  even  to  eat  the  raw  carrion. 
•They  may  indulge  in  spirituous  liquors  and  freely  im¬ 
bibe  arrack  and  toddy. 

Occupation .  The  Pafayas  originally  formed  a  very 
considerable  number  of  the  slaves  and  were  employed 
chiefly  in  field  labour.  But  though  they  still  engage 
themselves  in  all  sorts  of  agricultural  work,  they  have 
now  adopted  other  occupations.  They  are  ingenious 
in  wicker  work.  The  women  make  baskets  and  bamboo 
mats  and  the  men  supply  them  with  bamboos.  The 
process  is  as  follows: — The  tools  of  the  basket  maker 
are  of  the  simplest  character,  those  necessary  for  the 


516  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21, 

harvesting  of  the  material  and  those  used  in  the  manu¬ 
facture.  Fine  splints  of  bamboo  are  made  by  the  males 
and  the  women  weave  them.  In  making  baskets,  the 
woman  starts  from  the  centre  of  the  bottom,  coiling 
and  warping  the  splints  as  she  proceeds  with  the  split 
pieces,  so  as  to  bind  it  to  the  preceding  turn,  drawing 
her  splints  between  the  spirals.  When  the  splint  is 
exhausted,  the  end  is  tucked  in  behind  the  spiral  and 
another  one  started  in  the  same  manner  but  so  carefully 
joined  as  to  escape  detection.  These  baskets  and  mats 
are  used  largely  in  the  country,  and  merchants  engage 
the  services  of  the  Parayas  in  manufacturing  them  by 
making  advances  and  derive  large  profits  by  their  sale. 
The  Parayas  themselves  are  but  mere  day  labourers, 
receiving  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  annas  in  coin  or 
its  worth  in  paddy  a  day  as, wages.  They  also  employ 
themselves,  at  least  a  few  of  them,  as  trackers  and  beat¬ 
ers.  They  pretend  to  be  great  necromancers  and  are 
said  to  be  notorious  masters  of  the  black  art.  They 
are  often  employed  in  casting  out  devils  and  counter¬ 
acting  enchantments.  They  along  with  the  Malayers, 
enjoy  the  reputation  of  being  the  sole  custodians  of 
the  Oti  cult  of  which  more  later  on.  The  Revd. 
Mr.  Mateer  tells  us  that  a  Christian  convert  of  Paraya 
caste,  who  had  been  a  devil  dancer,  being  asked  concern¬ 
ing  of  his  former  practices,  replied  that  they  were 
tricks  to  obtain  money. 

Their  general  condition  and  status  among  Hindus . 
The  Parayas  of  the  south,  who  resemble  their  brethren 
of  the  'lamil  district,  stood  socially  higher  than  those 
of  the  north.  In  north  Travancore,  Cochin  and  British 
Malabar,  their  condition  was  at  the  lowest.  The  farther 
you  went  into  the  Malaysiam  country,  their  degradation 
had  been  more  and  more  pronounced-  The  southern 
Parayas  profess  to  have  been  once  free  and  powerful, 
and  this  was  not  unlikely.  For,  we  know  that  the  Tamil 
Parayas  had  produced  poets,  philosophers,  and  saints 
who  were  reckoned  eminent  by  the  Hindus.  Tiruvaliuvar 
Nayn2rtthe  author  of  Kural  and  his  so-called  sister  the 


PARAYAS 


517 


N.  .!§•] 

famous  poetess  Avvai ,  the  Vaishnava  Alwar ,  were  the 
-most  famous  of  them.  The  great  Sivite  saint  Nanda  is 
well-known  to  all.  Malabar  also  claim  to  have  produced 
the  Paraya  Pakkanar.  To  this-  day  PakkanSr’s  resi* 
dence  is  pointed  out  at  Trttala,  (6  miles  west  of  the 
Pattambi  Railway  Station)  where  his  image  is  worship¬ 
ped  by  the  members  of  the  family.  PakkanSr’s  brother 
known  as  Naranattu  Bhrantan  was  also  considered  a 

•  f  •  • 

profound  philosopher  and  a  saintly  devotee.  The  origin 
of  the  temple  at  Elankuftfrappula  in  the  Cochin  State 
traced  to  a  Paraya  finding  an  idol  of  remarkable  efful¬ 
gence.  The  incident  is  referred  to  in  a  State  document 
presented  by  the  Cochin  Sirkar  before  the  Arbitrator 
appointed  to  settle  territorial  and  boundary  disputes, 
then  existing  between  the  States  of  Cochin  and 
Travancore.  The  descendant  of  the  Paraya  who  dis¬ 
covered  the  idol  is  still  known  as  Perum  Parayan  or  the 
‘great  Parayan’  and  enjoys  peculiar  privileges  and 
receives  valuable  perquisites  from  the  temple.  His 
office  in  the  temple  constitution  was  so  important  that 
one  of  the  great  dignitaries  of  the  pagoda  had  in  the 
early  part  of  the  16th  century  to  forfeit  his  rights  for 
killing  a  Perum  Parayan.  The  incident  is  referred  to 
in  a  statement  presented  by  the  Cochin  Darbar  to  the 
British  Resident. 

The  ElankuAAappula  temple  chronicles  ( Grandha • 
vari)  say: — “At  half  past  9  on  the  night  of  the  18th  of 
Vrischigam  of  the  Puthuvayppu  year  188  (704  M.  E.*) 
Thekkenkoor  killed  Devaswam  (i.e.  belonging  to  God) 
Perum  Parayan.  That  day  the  Sanketham  (i.e.  the 
pagoda  guild  or  constitution)  was  dissolved.  Know 
that  when  12  months  had  passed  (i.e.  at  the  advent  of 
the  next  Utsavam),  Thekkenkoor  had  to  forfeit  his 
Koima  Sthanam  (office).  For  this  and  his  other  encroach¬ 
ments  within  the  Sanketham  (temple  jurisdiction)  it  was 
decided  by  the  arbitrators  nominated  by  Perumpadapil 
Swaroopam  (i.e.  the  Raja  of  Cochin),  Porkala  Mattathu 
Vasudevan,  Pariyalil  Narayanan  Kumaran  and  the 
x  A.  D.  1529, 


518  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L:  21 

other,  arbitrators  who  had  assembled  for  the  purpose, 
that  a  statue  of  the  Paraiah  must  be  made,  that  paddy 
fields  and  lands  must  be  given  for  the  expenses  of  the 
Paraiahs  during  their  fasting,  that  an  offering  of  a  silver 
pot  must  be  made  and  that  the  Perimpadippil  Swaroo- 
pam,  as  the  suzerain  of  Thekkenkoor,  must,  by  way  of 
penalty  for  the  outrageous  acts  of  the  latter,  present  to 
the  pagoda  an  elephant  and  its  stick  and  Thotty  (a  kind 
of  sharp  headed  stick  to  manage  an  elephant)  and  that 
the  Sanketham  ( i.e .  the  temple  guild)  may  then  be 
renewed.” 

The  Pafayas  are  now  a  very  inferior  race  reckoned 
so  very  vile  that  their  proximity  or  contact  would  entail 
the  most  alarming  contamination.  According  to  Barbosa, 
‘‘their  very  look  is  contamination.”  They  have  to 
stand  away  at  a  great  distance  from  the  higher  castes. 
Some  say  72  feet..  Their  taste  for  carrion,  especially 
for  that  of  the  cow,  the  animal  most  venerated  by  the 
Hindus,  has  doubtless  caused  this  prejudice.  They 
are  said  to  emit  a  fetid  odour.  Their  filthy  habits,  food 
and  dirty  environments  may  be  the  cause  of  the  strong 
stench  they  produce.  They  are  treated  as  the  lowest 
of  low  castes.  They  were  not  allowed  to  walk  along 
the  public  roads,  nor  were  they  permitted  to  approach 
the  vicinity  of  the  houses  belonging  to  the  higher 
classes.  The  Cochin  Sirkar  Ethnographical  Reporter, 
a  Brahman  gentleman,  observes  that  even  at  the  Police 
station  where  some  years  ago,  he  was  questioning  them 
and  taking  notes,  they  stood  at  such  a  long  distance 
that  he  could  not  distinctly  hear  them.  Evidently  he 
did  not  venture  to  seek  information  at  close  quarters. 
No  other  caste  will  eat  with  them.  They  themselves 
eat  at  the  hands  of  all  castes  except  those  of  Ullstans, 
NayStis  and  Pulayas.  But  they  freely  take  water  from 
the  well  of  Mahomedans,  Christians  and  Pulayas. 
Pulayas  consider  themselves  superior  in  social  standing 
to  the  Pafayas,  and  strictly  orthodox  men  of  the  caste 
have  to  bathe  five  times  and  let  blood  flow  in  order  to 
be  purified  from  contamination  caused  by  the  touch  of 


PA  RAYAS 


519 


N*  »5.] 

of  a  Pafaya.  If  high  caste  men  have  to  pass  by  a 
Pafaya  hut,  situated  far  away  in  the  hills,  these  inno¬ 
cent  creatures,  on  the  sight  of  the  high  caste  wayfarer, 
desert  their  huts  and  run  away  into  the  jungles. 
Witchcraft,  however,  is  a  power  in  their  possession 
which  mitigate  their  sufferings  a  good  deal.  Their 
masters  fear  their  spells  and  their  intervention  is  often 
called  in  rural  parts  either  to  ward  off  the  spells  caused 
by  the  enemies  or  .to  take  revenge  on  them.  It  is  said 
that  they  sometimes  waylay  and  carry  away  children 
of  higher  castes  and  bring  them  up  as  Pafayas,  and  we 
have  already  referred  to  what  is  called  Pafap^ti  or  ‘the 
fear  of  Pafayas’  to  which  early  travellers  often  allude. 

Many  Pafayas  have  become  converts  to  Christia¬ 
nity  and  some  have  become  Mahomedans  alsq.  Under 
Christian  instruction,  they  readily  improve  and  leave  off 
their  thieving  propensity  and  become  good  members  of 
Society.  They  strive  to  learn  and  are  said  to  show 
great  aptitude  for  singing.  Such  of  them  who  have 
adopted  the  Christian  religion  have  certainly  improved 
their  position. 

Religion  and  Worship .  The  Pafayas  profess  to 
follow  a  low  form  of  Hinduism,  but  are  in  effect  demon 
worshippers.  The  Tamil  Pafayas  adore  Vi§hriu  and 
Siva,  and  their  goddess  Athal  is  said  to  represent 
PSfvati,  the  spouse  of  Siva.  They  also  worship  PitSri 
who  in  her  evil  inclination  is  called  Kali.  In  the  worship  . 
of  Kali,  the  Malayali  Pafayas  follow  their  Tamil 
brethren.  The  Tamil  Pafayas  enjoy  in  the  Tamil 
districts  many  privileges  which  are  denied  to  Malayali 
Pafayas  in  Malabar.  The  Tamil  Pafayas  as  already 
observed  have  the  privilege  of  pulling  the  ropes  of  the 
car  at  Kanchlpuram,  Kumbhakonam,  Sflvalliputfur  and 
other  places,  when  the  deity  is  taken  round  the  town 
in  procession  during  the  festival.  A  Pafaya  still  acts 
the  part  of  a  bridegroom  to  tie  a  tali  round  the  neck  of 
a  tutelary  deity  of  the  Black  Town,  Madras.  In  Mysore, 
a  Holeya  is  a  priest  for  every  village  goddess.  They 


520  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  ax. 

profess  the  right  of  entering  temples  for  three  days  in 
the  year.  The  origin  of  the  great  temple  of  Jagannath 
is  closely  associated  with  a  low  caste  Paraya.  In 
Malabar,  the  Parayas  are  put-castes  of  society.  And 
yet  the  origin  of  the  temple  of  Elanlrafifiappula  like 
that  of  Jagannath  is  closely  connected  with  a  Paraya 
who  still  enjoys  rights  and  privileges  in  the  pagoda. 
Though  the  Parayas  have  no  temples  of  their  own  for 
the  higher  deities,  they  worship  them  and  repeat  the 
name  of  Siva  as  also  of  Kali  in  pious  reverence.  The 
present  generation  in  keeping  with  its  filthy  habits  and 
surroundings  delight  in  worshipping  Kali  in  her  low 
forms.  Kotungallur  Bhagavati  is  their  guardian  deity 
in  Malabar.  They  have  a  Velichappad,  or  person  who 
pretends  that  he  is  possessed  of  the  spirit  of  Kali  and 
who,  dressed  in  quaint  attire  and  with  small  tingling 
bells  attached  to  his  legs  and  carrying  a  curved  sword 
in  his  hand,  go  about  accompanied  by  drummers  beating 
the  drum  before  him,  and  collect  paddy  for  their  festivals. 
A  shed  is  put  up  for  the  occasion  of  the  festival  where 
they  gather  and  keep  on  dancing  and  singing  to  the 
accompaniment  of  the  drum  and  the  flute.  Some  put  on 
the  guise  of  ghosts  and  dance  before  the  deity.  All  drink 
large  quantities  of  toddy.  This  festival  is  called  Vela. 
On  the  first  of  every  month,  they  perform  a  ceremony 
called  Kalasam  for  the  spirit  of  the  departed.  They 
place  on  a  long  plantain  leaf,  fish,  meat,  toddy,  rice, 
parched  grain,  plantain  fruits,  cocoanuts,  etc.,  and, 
standing  in  front  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  beseech  the 
spirits  of  the  departed  to  accept  these  offerings.  They 
pray  “Ye  dead  ancestors,  come  and  take  what  we  have 
procured  for  you  with  much  difficulty,  and  protect  us” 
They  also  worship  minor  deities  or  demons,  such  as 
Parakutti  and  Chattan.  They  have  no  regular  temples 
but  have  small  thatched  sheds  containing  a  few  stones 
in  it  and  erected  in  front  of  their  huts  which  they  call 
Daivapura  or  ‘God’s  house’.  There  are  no  regular 
priests  amongst  them.  He  who  canpeform  the  KalaSam 
ceremony  acts  as  priest. 


THE  DEViL-  DANCE  OF  PARAYANS. 


PARAYAS 


N.  is.] 


521 


According  to  Dr.  Buchanan,  the  deity  worshipped 
by  the  Parayas  of  British  Malabar  is  named  Mariti. 
The  Parayas  there  consider  that  after  death  the  spirits 
of  the  good  become  like  God,  while  those  of  bad  men 
become  Culis  or  devils.  There  are  small  temples  or 
rather  huts  in  which  a  stone  is  placed  to  represent 
Mariti.  Individuals  at  an  annual  festival  present  the 
idol  with  offerings  of  fruits  and  bloody  sacrifices. 
There  is  a  kind  of  priest  belonging  to  this  tribe..  He  is 
called  Velatum  Parian  ;  but  is  of  a  different  race. 
When  any  sickness  happens,  he  is  consulted,  and 
informs  the  votary  what  spirit  must  be  invoked,  whether 
the  protection  of  Mariti  ought  to  be  solicited,  or  the 
wrath  of  Kuli  appeased.  This  he  determines  by  look¬ 
ing  on  a  heap  of  rice-  He  also  possesses  a  jurisdiction 
over  the  Par ayan  in  all  matters  of  caste  and  punishes  all 
transgressers  by  fine;  but  he  never  proceeds  to  such 
an  extremity  as  to  excommunicate.  1 

Marriage .  Girls  are  married  before  and  after 
puberty*  The  Parayas  observe  the  tali  marriage  as 
well  as  the  real  nuptiai  ceremony  which  is  called  Peri- 
ko$a  or  the  giving  away  of  the  girl,  a  term  used  by  the 
Aryan  Nambutiries  to  denote  marriage.  The  tali 
marriage  is  generally  performed  when  the  girl  is  about 
io  or  12  years  of  age.  The  tali  is  tied  round  the  neck 
of  the  girl  by  the  maternal  nephew  of  the  girl’s  father 
or  some  other  close  relative.  The  ceremony  lasts  for 
four  days,  when  friends  and  relatives  invited  for  the 
occasion  are  feasted.  The  tali  tier  is  afterwards  dis¬ 
missed  with  the  present  of  a  piece  of  cloth  and  a  few 
annas.  The  real  marriage  is  the  Penkofca.  The  pre¬ 
liminaries  resemble  those  of  the  Pulayas.  On  the  day 
the  marriage  is  settled,  a  Rupee  and  two  cloths  are 
given  to  the  parents  of  the  bride-elect.  The  bridegroom 
together  with  his  relatives  proceed  to  the  bride’s  house 
on  the  day  previous  to  the  marriage,  and  are  regaled 
with  Kanfti  and  toddy.  At  the  auspicious  moment 
selected,  a  tali  is  tied  round  the  neck  of  the  girl,  after 
I.  Vol.  2,  p.  152, 


522  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L:  21. 

which  she  takes  a  bath  to  purify  herself.  The  inevit¬ 
able  feast  with  copious  libations  of  toddy  follows.  The 
pipe  and  the  drum  are  ever  present.  The  ceremony 
and  the  feasting  last  for  a  couple  of  days  after  which 
the  husband  and  wife  go  to  the  husband’s  house  where 
the  bride’s  party  is  feasted.  The  marriage  is  generally 
celebrated  on  a  Monday.  Sunday  is,  deemed  an 
inauspicious  day  for  the  ceremony  itself;  cohabitation 
may  begin  on  a  Sunday,  Tuesday  or  Friday.  The  parents 
arrange  the  marriage  and  the  parties,  have  no  voice  in 
the  matter,  with  the  result  that  early  marriage  has  been 
a  long  standing  practice  amongst  them.  A  man  can 
marry  more  than  one  wife.  At  present  they  do  not 
practice  polyandry.  It  is  censured  and  counted  a 
crime. 

A  widow  is  allowed  to  remarry  a  year  after  the 
death  of  her  husband,  but  not  before.  If  she  does  not 
remarry,  she  remains  in  her  husband’s  house  and  is 
there  maintained.  Though  she  cannot  marry  her 
brother-in-law,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  a  Paraya 
from  marrying  his  deceased  wife’s  sister. 

Both  husband  and  wife  have  the  liberty  to  divorce 
each  other.  If  the  husband  puts  off  his  wife,  he  gets 
back  his  bride’s  money  and  the  wedding  dress 
supplied  by  him.  If  the  wife  desires  to  separate,  the 
separation  is  effected,  through  the  intervention  of  her 
parents.  In  no  case  is  the  dowry  returned  by  the 
husband,  but  the  wife  is  entitled  to  half  the  bride’s 
money. 

Pregnancy  and  child  birth .  The  first  delivery 
generally  takes  place  in  the  wife’s  parent’s  house.  A 
special  hut  is  put  up  in  which  the  woman  is  confined 
after  delivery  for  15  days,  during  which  period  she  is 
not  allowed  to  touch  anything  lest  she  may  pollute. 
She  is  fed  from  outside  the  hut.  After  the  15  days, 
some  water  and  milk  is  obtained  from  a  Brahman  or 
Nsyar,  and  she  is  sprinkled  with  it  and  purified.  The 
temporary  hut  is  burned  to  ashes  and  after  the  28th  day 


N.  1 6.] 


JUNGLE  CASTES 


523 


she  rejoins  her  husband.  Ail  subsequent  deliveries 
take  place  in  her  husband’s  hut. 

Ceremonies  after  death .  On  death,  relatives 
and  friends  assemble  and  remove  the  body  on  a  bier  to 
the  burial  ground  in  one’s  own  compound  or  in  the 
neighbourhood.  There  the  grave  is  dug  and  the  body 
placed  in  it  on  a  mat.  It  is  then  filled  up  after  putting 
some  rice  into  it.  The  party  then  bathes  and  returns. 
i  he  son  or  the  maternal  nephew  is  the  chief  mourner 
and  performs  the  same  ceremonies  as  are  performed  by 
other  low  castes.  The  pollution  lasts  for  16  day9. 

Internal  economy .  The  affairs  of  the  community 
are  regulated  at  caste  assemblies  of  the  seniors,  which 
meet  on  occasions  requiring  enquiry  into  allegations 
of  adultery  or  of  the  misconduct  of  unmarried  women 
or  infringement  of  caste  rules,  etc.  There  they  carry 
on  their  deliberations  and  pass  decisions  which  are 
final. 

1 6.  Jungle  Castes.  There  are  various  jungle 
tribes  that  inhabit  the  hills  of  Malabar#  The  Travan- 
core  Census  Report  names  the  following  among  the 
chief  Hill  tribes  as  being  inhabitants  of  the  Eastern 
Taluks  of  Travancore: — 

(1)  The  Kanikkar; 

(2)  The  Mala  Arayans; 

(3)  The  Mala  Uralis; 

(4)  The  Hill  Pantarams; 

(5)  Mahans; 

(6)  Mutavans; 

(7)  The  Uliatans; 

(8)  The  Nayaps. 

To  this  list  may  be  added  the  Mala  Adiyars  of  the 
Lower  Periyar  Valley. 

“Viewed  from  an  ethnical  stand  point*’  says  the 
Cochin  Census  Report"  Kanikkars,  Pulayans,  Parayans, 
Veftuvans,  Ulktans,  Nayatis,  Yerravalas,  Mudgars, 
Malayans  and  Katans  are  perhaps  to  be  classed 


524  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21 . 

together”  as  ‘Hill  Tribes’.  The  last  two  are  the  ‘Hill 
Tribe’  proper. 

The  Hill  Tribes  are  all  a  set  of  quite  inoffensive 
people  who  are  nomadic  in  their  habits,  carrying  on 
migratory  cultivation  and  living  mainly  upon  hunting 
and  forest  produce.  Their  rude  and  primitive  manners, 
and  the  marked  negroid  features  of  some  of  them,  have 
led  them  to  be  generally  regarded  as  the  aboriginies  of 
the  country.  Bishop  Caldwell,  however,  considers 
that  they  are  not  like  the  Todas  of  the  Nelgheries,  the 
surviving  representatives  of  the  earliest  inhabitants  of 
the  plains,  but  like  the  hill  tribes  of  the  ‘Pulnys’  the 
descendants  of  some  hinduised  low  country  people,  who 
were  driven  to  the  hills  by  oppression  or  who  voluntarily 
migrated  thither.  Perhaps,  ife  is  to  these  hill  tribes  as 
a  class  that  Barbosa  refers  as  the  “Renoleni”.  “These” 
he  says  “live  in  the  mountains  very  poorly  and  miser¬ 
ably.  They  have  no  other  occupation  than  bringing 
wood  and  grass  to  the  city  for  sale  to  support  themselves. 
They  go  naked,  covering  only  their  middle  with  leaves 
of  trees  etc.” 

The  earliest  notice  we  have  of  these  hill  tribes  is 
in  Purchas  His  Pilgrims  and  in  Nieuhoff’s  Travels . 
“ Stephanas  dc  Brito  speaketh”.  says  Purchas,  ‘‘of  the 
Maleas  (*.<?.,  the  Malayans  or  Hill  tribes)  which  inhabit 
small  villages  in  the  mountains,  which  are  hunters  of 
elephants:  amongst  whom  are  no  thefts  or  robberies  ; 
and  therefore  they  leave  their  doors  open  when  they  go 
abroad.  They  have  no  idol  amongst  them  ;  only  they 
observe  their  ancestor’s  sepulchres.  These  have  no 
commerce  with  their  neighbours,  nor  are  much  subject 
1  to  Kings,  only  pay  them  a  kind  of  tribute  having  Arelli 
set  over  them  as  judges  or  magistrates  under  each  of 
them  five  or  six  thousand  men.  Their  houses  are'  madd 
of  Indian  canes  daubed  with  earth,  and  some  live  on 
trees  laying  beams  from  one  tree  to  another,  and  so 
builcjing  them  lofty  cottages  free  from  tigers  and  wild 
elephants,  whereof  the  mountains  are  full,  which  they 


JUNGLE  CASTES 


525 


N.  16.] 

take  in  Pits  covered  over  with  leaves.  They  have  fertile 
fields  and  valleys,  but  not  diligently  husbanded.  They 
are  content  with  one  wife,  which  they  carry  with  them 
whithersoever  they  go,  though  but  a  hunting  voyage. 
They  are  as  other  Malabars,  naked  from  the  waist 
upwards,  a  long  garment  hangs  thence  to  the  ankles; 
and  on  their  heads  a  turbandasthe  Moors.  Their  neck, 
ears  and  nostrils  are  laden  with  gold.  For  the  Malabars 
wear  gold  as  well  for  nose-rings,  as  ear-rings.  These 
Maieas  are  of  better  estimation  than  the  base  vulgar, 
nor  is  it  accounted  a  pollution  to  touch  them,  no  more 
than  other  Nairos  or  Thomaen  Christians.  They  have 
their  Pipes  and  Tabors  on  their  feasts.  They  are  also 
sorcerers  and  divine  by  familiar  spirits,  but  use  not  to 
kill  or  hurt  men  by  witchcraft,  as  other  Indians  and 
Malabars  do.  A  witty,  docile,  honest  people,  perhaps 
descended  of  those  Malliani,  which  Plutarch  and 
Curtins  mention  in  the  life  of  Alexander 

“  On  the  tops  of  the  high  rocky  mountains  of 
Malabar’',  writes  Nieuhoff,  “on  the  top  of  which  live 
Christians  of  St.  Thomas — dwells  a  certain  nation 
called  the  Malleans  they  have  a  pretty  good  tillage, 
about  thirteen  or  fourteen  leagues  from  Madura  called 
Priata.  *  *  *  Now-a-days  they  do  not  inhabit  any 

cities,  towns  or  villages,  but  only  certain  enclosures  in 
the  valleys  betwixt  the  rocks ;  their  houses  are  built 
of  canes  very  low,  and  plastered  up  with  loom  or  clay. 
Some  of  them  live  in  the  woods  ;  these  make  their 
houses  of  wood,  which  they  remove  from  tree  to  tree 
tt)  secure  themselves  against  thQ  elephants  and  tigers. 
The  first  they  catch  in  holes  covered  with  the  branches 
of  trees  with  some  earth  on  the  top.  They  also  culti¬ 
vate  the  ground,  but  in  a  very  slender  manner,  though 
their  valleys  would  be  very  fruitful  if  they  were  duly 
managed.  They  have  but  one  wife  at  a  time  who  goes 
abroad  a-hunting  with  them  or  wherever  they  go; 
whereas  the  pagan  Malabars  marry,  generally  several 
women.  They  chiefly  differ  from  the  other  Malabars 
in  their  complexion,  are  just  and  honest,  good  natured, 


526  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

charitable  and  without  deceit.  For  the  rest,  courageous, 
ingenious  and  cunning,  they  pretend  to  converse  with 
the  devils  only  out  of  curiosity  to  know  the  event  of 
things;  the  custom  of  the  other  Malabars  and  Indians, 
who  hurt  others  by  their  sorceries  being  unknown  to 
them. 

“Part  of  the  Malleans  acknowledge  the  king 
of  Turbula  (Tiruwella),  part  the  king  of  Pugnati 
(Punjatffi),  Perimal,  for  their  ^superiors  unto  whom 
they  pay  tribute,  yet  with  the  entire  preservation  of 
their  liberty,  they  being  governed  by  their  own  laws 
under  Captains  or  Judges  of  their  nation  called  by  them 
Arley ,  each  of  them  has  commonly  five  or  six  thousand 
under  his  district;  besides  which  each  enclosure  is 
governed  by  its  own  judges  called  Pandera;  unto  them 
they  pay  strict  obedience”. 

“Before  1599,  when  they  first  began  to  be  instructed 
in  the  Romish  religion  by  the  assiduity  of  the  then 
Archbishop  of  Goa,  they  were  all  pagans,  but  since  that 
time  a  good  number  of  them  have  embraced  Christianity. 
Eight  of  their  best  men,  among  whom  were  three 
Pandares,  with  their  whole  families  first  received 
baptism,  who  being  followed  by  many  others,  a  Church 
dedicated  to  St.  Michael  was  built  in  the  village  of 
Priata.  Before  their  conversion  they  had  no  temples 
erected  in  honour  of  their  idols,  neither  did  they  sacri¬ 
fice  with  feasting,  dancing  and  such  like  ceremonies, 
but  each  family  had  its  domestic  god  unto  whom  they 
paid  their  devotions.  They  are  much  more  esteemed 
among  the  Malabars  than  their  common  people,  neither 
are  they  looked  upon  as  unclean  by  them,  no  more  than 
the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas  if  they  happen  to  touch  a 
Nayros  (Nair).  They  keep  scarce  any  commerce  with 
the  neighbouring  nations,  even  not  with  the  Thomists 
themselves  who  live  at  the  foot  Of  the  same  mountains.” 

17.  Ollares.  Malayalam  Ullaters.  These,  if 
at  all,  are  only  a  shade  higher  than  the  next  succeeding 
class  the  Nayatis.  They  are  found  in  the  low  country 
as  well  as  on  the  hills. 


AN  ULLADAN'S  FAMILY. 


ULLATERS 


52? 


N.  17.] 

The  word  Ulistan  is  sometimes  given  a  strange 
derivation  which  is  supposed  to  indicate  the  origin  of 
the  caste.  It  is  said  that  when  a  Nambutiri  Brahman 

•  1 

woman  was  accused  of  adultery  and  outcasted,  she 
answered  to  the  accusation  saying  UilatSnay,  (i.  e., 
Mai:, “It  is  true”).  She  is  supposed  to  be  the  progenitor 
of  this  degraded  class.  Another  and  more  likely  deri- 
vation  that  has  been  suggested  is,  from  Ul:  ‘within’  and 
Oatana :  running  or  wandering=Uii5tan,  a  person  who 
runs  into  the  forest  on  the  sight  of  men — apparently  of 
the  higher  castes.  They  belong  to  the  lowest  class  of 
soil-slaves.  They  are  a  true  jungle  tribe  of  wild  and 
timid  savages  whose  subsistence  and  life  are  truly  piti¬ 
able.  They  are  good  hunters  being  adepts  in  the  use 
of  the  bow  and  arrow  and  are  excellent  shots  when 
trained.  They  obtain  their  living  by  gathering  gum, 
honey,  wax  and  other  forest  produce.  They  can  gather 
these  only  from-bushes,  shrubs,  etc., for  they  are  prevent¬ 
ed  from  climbing  trees  and  driving  pegs  into  them. 
They  chiefly  cultivate  the  ragi  and  subsist  principally 
on  fruits,  wild  yams,  etc,,  and  eke  out  a  wretched  exis¬ 
tence.  They  have  no  settled  abode.  They  snare  birds 
and  small  game  by  day  and  watch  crops  by  night.  They 
may  not  touch  water  and  if  they  do  so  must  fast  for  a 
day.  It  follows  that  they  are  extremely  filthy.  Their 
clothes  are  merely  leaves  of  trees. 

Marriage .  Dr.  Day  gives  us  a  curious  description 
of  their  marriage  ceremony.  “Their  marriage  cere¬ 
mony  is  very  simple,  but  it  is  also  employed  by  some  of 
the  other  inferior  tribes,  at  certain  ‘times,  although 
quite  contrary  to  their  rites.  A  large  round  building 
is  made  of  leaves,  and  inside  this  the  bride  is  ensconced. 
All  the  eligible  young  men  of  the  village  then  assemble, 
and  form  a  ring  around  this  hut*  At  a  short  distance 
sits  the  girl’s  father  or  nearest  male  relative,  with  a 
tom-tom  in  his  hands,  and  a  few  more  such  musical 
instruments  complete  the  scene.  Presently  the  music 
begins  and  a  chant  which  may  be  translated  as  follows, 
is  sung  by  the  father. 


528 


LETTERS  KROM  MALABAR 


[L.  21. 


“Take  the  stick  my  sweetest  daughter, 

Now  seize  the  stick,  my  dearest  love, 

Should  you  not  capture  the  husband  you  wish  for, 
Remember  ’tis  fate  decides  whom  you  shall  have.*' 
“The  young  men  each  armed  with  a  bamboo,  com¬ 
mence  dancing  round  the  hut,  into  Which  each  of  them 
thrusts  his  stick.  This  continues  about  an  hour,  when 
the  owner  of  whichever  bamboo  she  seizes,  become  the 
fortunate  husband  of  the  concealed  bride.  A  feast  then 
follows,  the  ceremony  is  now  complete,  whilst  there  is 
no  divorce.**1  Some  attribute  this  ceremony  to  the 
Nayatis  also.  When  an  Ullatan  brings  home  his  wife, 
some  money,  a  brass  vessel  and  a  brass-box  are  given 
as  dowry.  But  ofcourse  this  is  only  among  those  who 
are  comparatively  well-to-do. 

The  Vetan  claims  superiority  over  the  Uliatan,  but 
the  existence  and  subsistence  of  both  is  indescribably 
miserable.  Both  however  are  not  insensible  to  the 
vanity  of  ornaments,  the  neck  being  hung  round  with 
shells  in  profusion.  A  dark  complexion,  restless  glance, 
and  exuberance  of  hair  gives  them  a  wild  appearance; 
but  they  are  extremely  gentle  and  so  timid  that,  on  the 
lowest  sound  of  approach,  they  fly  into  the  woods. 

1 8.  Weddeo.  Malayalam  Vetan  or  hunter. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Mateer  observes  that  though  the 
caste  name  means  “hunter”  these  people  are  in  a  con¬ 
dition  very  similar  to  that  of  the  Pulayars,  living  in 
jungle  clearings  or  working  in  the  rice-fields  and 
formerly  sold  and  bought  as  slaves.  Their  usages, 
worship  and  superstitions  greatly  resemble  those  of 
the  Pulayars.  They  are  in  deep  poverty,  very  timid, 
and  destitute  of  temporal  comfort  and  conveniences. 
They  have  to  wander  about  in  seasons  of  scarcity  in 
search  of  wild  yams,  which  they  boil  and  eat  on  the  spot 
and  are  thorough  gluttons,  eating  all  they  can  get  at  any 
time,  then  suffering  want  for  days.  Women  are  filthy 
in  their  habits,  the  sick  are  uncared  for,  and  mortality 

j.  Land  of  the  Perumals ,  p.  329. 


I  To  face  p.  528- 


NAYATIS 


529 


N.  19.] 

amongst  the  children  is  .great.  Polygamy  is  common 
as  men  are  not  required  to  provide  for  the  support  of 
their  wives.  But  some  who  have  been  converted  to 
Christianity  show  wonderful  and  rapid  improvement  in 
moral  character,  civilization  and  diligence.1 

A  party  of  Hill  Vetars  came  to  visit  Mr,  Baker 
and  spoke  with  peculiar  words  and  in  a  curious  tone 
rendering  it  very  difficult  to  converse  with  them.  Their 
women  had  immense  necklaces  of  beads,  pieces  of  lead 
and' brass,  one  had  a  broad  chain  of  brass  round  her 
neck.  These  people  were  coal-black  and  many  quite 
curly-headed. 

19.  Naiaddy.  Malayalam  NaySti — ‘hunter’. 
In  the  Hindu  heirarchy  of  castes  in  Malabar,  the 
Nsystis  are  placed  on  the  lowest  rung.  They  are  at  the 
very  last  step  of  vileness.  The  following  description 
of  them  is  very  apt.  “This  wretched  race  is  only  found 
in  the  Northern  parts  of  Cochin,  they  are  banished  the 
villages,  and  live  on  the  low  hills  near  the  cultivated 
lands — a  bush  or  rock  being  their  only  shelter.  The 
Nayatis  present  a  state  of  society  not  seen  in  any  other 
part  of  India;  wild  amidst  civilized  inhabitants,  starving 
amongst  cultivation,  nearly  naked;  they  wander  about 
in  search  of  a  few  roots,  but  depend  more  on  charity, 
which  the  traveller  is  surprised  at  their  clamorous 
impetuosity  in  soliciting,  ascending  the  little  slopes  that 
overlook  the  village  or  road.  Whatever  charity  they 
receive  is  placed  on  the  ground  near  where  they  stand, 
but  on  observing  their  petitions  are  heard  they  retire 
from  the  spot,  that  they  may  not  defile  by  their  presence 
those  coming  to  their  relief.1’3 

It  is  thought  that  the  “Poulichees”  mentioned 
by  Captain  Hamilton  are  the  same  with  those  whom 
Buchanan  describes  under  the  name  of  ‘Nayatis’,  and 
both  bear  a  general  resemblance  to  Varthema’s  ‘Hirava’, 

1.  Native  Life  i/i  Travancore ,  p.  60. 

2.  I  but,  p.  62. 

3.  The  Madras  Journal  of  Literature  and  Scienre  Vol.  I, 

P  7- 


530  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

though  he  describes  them  as  cultivators  of  rice,  whereas 
the  former  are  not  allowed  to  till  the  ground  but  have 
to  dwell  in  woods  and  marshes,  and  subsist  chiefly  on 
hunting  and  begging.  According  to  Hamilton,  the 
‘Poulichees’  are  the  lowest  order  of  human  creatures, 
and  are  excluded  from  the  benefit  of  divine  and  human 
laws. 

The  caste  has  no  sub-divisions.  Their  very  look 
is  most  unprepossessing.  Dark  in  complexion,  stunted 
in  growth,  lean  and  gaunt  in  appearance, filthy  inhabits, 
timid  by  nature,  these  wretched  specimens  of  humanity 
are  no  better  than  the  wild  beasts  who  are  their  com¬ 
panions  in  their  forest  home. 

v 

Clothing  and  Ornaments .  The  Nsyatis  generally 
cover  their  nakedness  by  tying  round  their  waist  long 
strings  made  of  leaves  and  plants.  Some  however  use 
a  small  piece  of  dirty  cloth  which  hangs  on  till  it  drops 
down  in  rags.  This  never  goes  down  the  knees;  The 
men  wear  a  number  of  brass  ear-rings  sometimes  as 
many  as  13  in  one  lobe.  Sometimes  a  string  with  brass 
.rings  is  worn  round  the  loins  or  the  arm  as  a  charm  for 
the  cure  of  diseases  or  to  ward  off  demons.  The  women 
wear  a  dirty  cloth  round  the  waist  which  is  twice  folded. 
The  upper  cloth  is  seldom  or  never  worn.  The  lobes 
of  the  ears  are  dilated  and  wooden  plugs  or  Toda  are 
inserted  into  them.  Bracelets  are  not  generally  worn, 
but  round  the  neck  are  seen  many  rows  of  beads  with 
shells  and  pendants  hanging  over  their  bosoms.  These 
are  not  removed  on  the  death  of  their  husbands. 
Ear  ornaments  are,  as  a  rule,  not  worn  after  they  have 
given  birth  to  a  child,  for  they  say  that  after  child  birth 
a  woman  loses  her  youth  and  beauty,  and  with  the  care 
of  a  child  to  bring  up,  her  days  of  merriment  are  at  an 
end.  As  a  sign  of  mourning,  they  wear  no  ornaments 
for  a  year  after  the  death  of  the  husband. 

Habitations .  The  Nsyatis  live  on  hill  tops  and 
valleys  isolated  from  all  other  human  habitations.  They 
generally  select  a  shofa  or  valley  where  there  is  a  pond 


NAYATIS 


531 


N.  i9.l 

or  small  stream.  There  they  erect  their  huts  with  small 
roofs  supported  on  four  bamboo  posts  connected ‘by 
bamboo  beams  and  protected  from  wind  and  rain  by 
palm  leaf  walls.  A  few  earthen  pots  and  a  chopper 
constitute  a  NaySti’s  property. 

Food  and  Drink .  They  subsist  mainly  upon 
yams  and  wild  roots  and  possess  no  knowledge  of  trap¬ 
ping  animals  or  snaring  birds.  They  are  however  flesh- 
eaters  and  will  eat  pigs,  dear,  hares,  monkeys,  goats, 
wild  squirrel,  rats,  doves,  quails,  fowls,  etc.  They 
hunt  animals  by  means  of  the  bow  and  arrow,  in  the 
use  of  which  they  are  adepts.  They  also  eat  oysters, 
tortoises  and  crocodiles  which  latter  they  capture  by 
means  of  ropes  and  hooks.  They  bake  the  flesh  of 
animals  by  means  of  fire  which  they  produce  by  friction 
and  eat  without  salt  and  chillies.  These  are  however 
but  delicacies.  Their  common  food  is  Kanni  and  boiled 
rice.  The  rice  or  paddy  they  obtain  mainly  by  way  of 
alms.  They  are  averse  to  manual  labour,  and  work 
they  can  seldom  get.  The  result  is,  that,  should  they 
fail  to  get  any  alms  in  the  day,  they  have  to  starve  in 
the  evening.  They  yell  out  for  charity  in  their  stem 
torian  voice  from  a  distance  and  follow  passers-by 
miles  and  miles  together,  taking  care  to  keep  at  a  respect¬ 
ful  distance,  beseaching  piteously  for  alms.  It  is  a 
common  sight  to  see  on  the  road-side  in  Malabar  a 
dirty  piece  of  rag  spread  out  with  a  few  piece  of  copper 
lying  on  it,  and  a  NsySti  crying  out  for  alms  from  a 
long  distance.  Like  other  slave  castes,  the  NsySti  is  a 
habitual  drinker.  Large  quantities  of  toddy  are  con¬ 
sumed  when  they  can  procure  the  same,  but  they  cannot 
afford  to  get  so  much  toddy  as  the  Cheruman  who 
regularly  works,  obtains  wages  and  can  pay  for  his 
drink. 

Occupation ,  As  a  rule,  the  NsyStis  are  averse 
to  manual  labour  of  any  kind.  Living  round  the 
mountains,  valleys  and  hill  tops,  they  occupy  themselves 
with  collecting  honey,  bee’s  wax*  and  Mattippasa  from 


532  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

the  Mattipsl  tree.  Mattippasa  is  a  resin  with  a  strong 
balsamic  odour  which  the  bark  of  A  ban  thus  Malabo- 
rica  yields.  When  placed  in  the  fire,  it  emits  a  sweet 
smell  and  is  used  by  Malayaiis  to  fumigate  their  bed 
chambers  and  clothes.  These  articles  they  sell  for  a 
few  copper  coins,  very  much  below,  their  market  price. 
Sometimes  they  exchange  them  for  articles  of  daily 
consumption.  Thus  nali  of  honey  is  exchanged  for  six 
ftafies  of  toddy  and  so  on.  1  hey  also  make  ropes  and 
slings  and,  on  occasions  of  national  festivals,  such  as 
Onam  and  Vishu,  they  present  four  of  these  ropes  to 
every  Nambutiri  Illam  and  two  to  every  Nayar  house 
near  their  village.  In  return  they  get  some  paddy,  afew 
copper  coins  and  a  piece  of  cloth.  They  also  employ 
themselves  as  agricultural  labourers,  but  this  very 
seldom.  The  Nayati  enjoys  certain  privileges.  Super¬ 
stition  envelopes  the  Nayati  with  certain  virtues  which 
he  and  he  alone  can  impart.  Jl'he  higher  classes  believe 
that  to  feed  the  Nayatis  on  birthdays,  anniversaries  of 
deaths  and  festive  occasions  ensures  long  life  and 
prosperity  to  those  who  do  so.  Hence  the  Nayatis  get 
their  share  of  curry  and  rice  on  such'  occasions.  Again, 
when  the  inmates  of  a  house  hear  the  howling  of  a 
Nayati  at  a  distance,  and  he  goes  about  howling  when 
he  has  no  work  .to  do,  they  take  a  handful  of  rice,  salt, 
chillies,  tamarind,  oil,  mustard,  cocoanut — in  short 
every  thing  necessary  for  culinary  purposes — put  them 
into  a  vessel  with  a  few  pice  added  to  them,  move  the 
vessel  round  the  head  of  a  child  or  adult  supposed  to  be 
under  the  influence  of  a  demon  or  the  potency  of  some 
evil  eye  and  hand  them  over  to  the  Nayati.  He  would 
of  course  be  thankful  for  the  gift  and  be  inclined  to 
bless  the  hand  that  gave  it.  But  superstition  would 
prefer  the  curse  of  the  Nayati  to  his  blessing,  and  he 
is  earnestly  requested  to  curse  the  giver.  It  is  believed 
that  a  Nayati’s  Prakku  or  curse  will  have  always  its 
opposite  effect  and,  when  he  is  asked  to  curse,  he  pours 
forth  imprecations  and  invokes  all  sorts  of  evil  and 
misery  to  the  person  who  gave  him  the  alms. 


NAYADIS  ON  A  BEGGING  TOUR. 


NAYATIS 


533 


N*  ig.] 

General  condition .  As  to  their  general  condition, 
they  are  almost  in  a  state  beyond  redemption.  Life 
cannot  be  lower  than  theirs.  These  miserable  specimens 
of  humanity,  who  are  no  better  than  two  legged  ani¬ 
mals,  pass  their  days  howling  for  charity  under  the 
midday  sun  in  summer,  and  in  storm  and  rain  during 
the  wintry  season.  They  are  the  Nlcha  Jati  or  Cha^da- 
ias  of  the  plains,  the  helots  and  bondsmen  of  society, 
under  the  Hindu  system.  They  cannot  approach  the 
person  or  the  abodes  of  higher  classes.  At  any  dis¬ 
tance  shorter  than  300  feet  they  pollute  the  Brahman, 
who  has  to  bathe  and  renew  his  sacred  thread  and 
drink  Panchagavyam  or  the  five  products  of  the  cow  to 
keep  off  the  contamination  caused  by  the  approach  of 
a  Nsyati.  The  highways  and  by-ways  were  till  within 
living  memory  closed  to  them.  They  could  not  then 
approach  the  markets  and  bazaars.  The  very  necessaries 
of  life  are  denied  by  a  cruel  and  unsympathetic 
system  which  aims  on  the  subjection  of  the  lower 
classes  to  the  higher.  Dr.'  Buchanan  observes  of  the 
Nsyatis  that: — “A  wretched  tribe  of  this  kind,  buffeted 
and  abused  by  every  one,  and  subsisting  on  the  labour 
of  the  industrious  is  a  disgrace  to  any  country,  and 
both  compassion  and  justice  seem  to  require,  that  they 
should  be  compelled  to  gain  a  livelihood  by  honest  indus¬ 
try,  and  be  elevated  somewhat  more  nearly  to  the  rank 
of  men  *  *  *  In  the  execution  of  such  a  plan  it  would 
be  necessary  to  transport  the  Niadis  to  some  country 
cast  from  Malabar,  in  order  to  remove  them  from  the 
contempt  in  which  they  will  always  be  held  by  the 
higher  ranks  of  that  country.”1  The  idea  is  good  and 
deserves  the  serious  attention  of  those  who  are  kindly 
disposed  towards  this  despised  and  wretched  class. 
They  are  a  timid,  truthful  and  religiously  inclined 
1  people.  The  degraded  life  to  which  they  have  been 
condemned  by  their  dirty  habits  and  by  the  caste  system 
for  ages  together  has  driven  some  to  embrace  the 
Christian  and  Muhammadan  religions  which  apparently 

x.  Vol.  2,  p.  97* 


534  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.  21. 

offer  equality  and  fraternity  to  all  alike.  Perhaps  there 
are  more  converts  to  Islamism  than  to  Christianity, 
Great  in  numbers,  their  extremely  wretched  condition 
deserves  the  close  and  sympathetic  attention  of  the 
enlightened  higher  classes  who  should  not  forget  that 
they  too  are  human  beings  and  fellow  creatures. 

Religion  and  Worship .  The  Nsyatis  are  said  to 
follow  a  low  form  of  the  Hindu  Religion.  But  it  is 
clearly  a  mistake  to  say  that  these  low  tribes  along  with 
their  brethren  have  any  idea  of  Hinduism.  All  those 
who  constitute  the  Nlcha  Jati  or  the  low  castes,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  Hindu  classification  of  castes,  are  mere 
Animists  who  the  plastic  side  of  Hinduism  is  gradually 
endeavouring  to  engraft  on  it.  Living  in  the  forests 
and  oppressed  by  the  vastness  of  the  natural  phenomena 
around  them,  these  simple  people  believe  more  in  the 
existence  of  mountain  deities  who,  if  propitiated  in 
season,  will  watch  over  their  welfare  and  protect  them 
against  wild  beasts  than  in  the  philosophical  abstrac¬ 
tions  of  the  Hindu  Religion.  To  the  Nsysti  rain, 
thunder  and  storm,  the  depredations  of  wild  beasts, 
etc.,  are  dispensations  of  some  forest  deity  or  other 
haunting  the  mountains.  The  NsyStis  are  also 
ancestor  worshippers  keeping  representations  of  the 
departed  near  their  huts.  To  these  stones  they  make 
offerings  of  rice,  toddy  and  arrack  on 

Karkataka  SamkrSnti  (in  July), 

Vrschika  SamkrSnti  (in  November), 

Onam  (in  August), 

Vishu  (in  May)  and 
Kumbha  Bharani  (in  March). 

The  gods  worshipped  by  them,  chiefly,  are  Malian 
MalavSli  and  Parr kkutti— all  mala-devatSs  or  moun- 
tain  deities.  The  last  of  these  they  say  aids  them  in 
their  hunting  expeditions.  He  brings  them  the  game 
and  secures  them  from  molestation  from  wild  animals. 
They  pray  to  him  to  render  them  assistance  and,  if 
they  have  occasion  to  feel  that  he  has  failed 
to  listen  to  their  supplications*  they  fall  to  abuse 


NAYATIS 


535 


Ne  If.'] 

him  for  ingratitude  and  for  betraying  the  trust 
they  had  reposed  in  him.  In  worshipping  the  spirits 
of  their  ancestors  and  their  gods,  they  resort  to  bloody 
sacrifices.  Sheep  or  fowl  is  killed  and  the  blood  spilt 
on  the  images.  The  flesh  is  cooked.  The  priest  per¬ 
forms  a  Puja  with  offerings  of  flesh,  boiled  rice,  toddy 
and  other  things.  The  worshippers  stand  at  a  distance 
during  the  Puja  and  approach  the  images  only  on 
the  priest  clapping  his  hands  after  he  -  has  finished 
ministering  to  the  gods.  All  pray  and  partake  of  the 
offerings.  The  prayer  is  generally  of  this  form:— 
“O  my  Malla!  My  MalavSli!  My  Parakutti!  My  father! 
My  mother!  My  dead  ancestor!  I  give  these  offerings 
which  I  have  with  difficulty  obtained  from  Tampurgk- 
kal  (members  of  higher  classes)  as  alms.  May  you 
accept  them  and  protect  us  against  wild  beasts,  as  we 
are  wandering  through  the  forests.  May  you  protect 
our  children!”— -poor  innocent  creatures!.  They  believe 
in  magic  and  -sorcery  and  the  Parayan  who  is  their 
astrologer,  sorcerer  and  magician  is  often  consulted. 

Ceremonies ,  Puberty ,  Marriage .  Girls  are  given  in 

marriage  before  and  after  puberty.  When  a  girl  attains 

puberty,  she  is  led  by  a  female  relation  to  a  tank  in 

which  she  bathes  after  a  panti  or  frame  work  composed 

of  several  pieces  of  plantain  leaves  plaited  together  has 

been  moved  round  her  three  or  four  times.  She  is 
♦ 

removed  to  a  separate  shed  for  10  days  during  which 
she  is  considered  impure  and  no  one  touches  her.  Her 
meals  are  served  from  a  distance.  On  the  nth  day,  she 
bathes  and  casts  off  her  impurity  and  a  feast  is  given  in 
honour  of  it.  At  every  subsequent  menstural  period, 
she  observes  pollution  for  three  days  bathing  on  the 
fourth  day. 

The  Nsyafi  generally  gives  his  daughter  in  marri¬ 
age  to  his  sister’s  son,  of  his  mother’s  sister’s 
daughter’s  son.  The  bridegroom’s  parents  and  relatives 
look  for  a  bride.  The  bride’s  parents  and  relatives 
consider  over  the  matter,  and,  if  the  match  is  accepted, 


536  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

the  young  man’s  father  pays  a  few  annas  and  the  matter 
is  finally  settled.  On  the  auspicious  day,  the  bride¬ 
groom  and  party  arrives  and  a  modest  feast  is  given. 
The  bride  is  dressed  in  the  Kacha  (cloth)  brought  by 
the  bridegroom  and  is  decked  with  the  necklace  of  glass 
beads  supplied  by  him.  The  bridegroom  wears  a  skull 
cap  made  of  the  bark  of  the  areca  palm.  In  some  parts 
there  is  no  further  ceremony.  Each  of  the  contracting 
couple  is  presented  with  a  mat  and  the  union  is  said 
to  be  complete.  In  some  parts  the  necklace  of  glass 
beads  is  tied  as  the  equivalent  of  the  tsli  round  the 
bride’s  neck  by  the  bridegroom’s  sister.  On  the  fol¬ 
lowing  day  the  wedding  party  breaks  up  and  the  rela¬ 
tions  return  home.  The  NSyStis  are  monogamists. 
Conjugal  fidelity  is  the  rule  and  the  adultery  is  not 
heard  of.  Both  divorce  and  widow  marriage  are  allowed. 
If  the  husband  divorces  his  wife  on  account  of  any 
moral  offence  on  her  part,  she  is  taken  to  her  father’s 
house  and  left  there,  and  the  father  returns  half  the 
dowry  which  in  full  is  not  more  than  a  rupee.  If  the 
wife  seeks  the  divorce  owing  to  the  misdeeds  of  the 
husband,  she  is  taken  back  to  her  father’s  house,  and 
the  full  dowry  is  returned  to  the  husband.  The  elder 
children  remain  with  the  father  while  the  younger  ones 
and  the  babies  are  taken  by  the  mother.  The  woman 
is  free  to  marry  again. 

Pregnancy  and  Child  birth .  During  the  7th  month 
of  pregnancy,  certain  ceremonies  are  performed  to  keep 
off  the  influence  of  demons;  a  magic  thread  is  worn 
round  the  neck  as  a  charm  against  the  malignant  in¬ 
fluences  of  evil  spirits.  The  delivery  takes  place  in  a 
hut  put  up  for  the  occasion.  The  birth  pullution  lasts 
for  ten  days  during  which  the  husband  avoids  seeing 
her.  For  a  period  of  seven  months,  she  does  not  go 
out  to  work. 

Inheritance .  To  speak  of  inheritance  in  the  paSe 
of  NayStis  is  absolutely  useless.  •'  For  they  have  noth¬ 
ing  to  leave  to  their  successors  except  their  huts,  ear¬ 
then  pots  and  chopper  which  are  not  likely  to  excite 


NAYATIS 


537 


N.  19.] 

the  ambition  of  others  who  may  possess  such  things  of 
their  own. 

Death  and  after  ceremonies .  Both  burial  and 
cremation  are  practised,  the  former  being  the  rule  and 
the  latter  the  exception.  Custom  requires  the  burning 
of  the  bodies  of  the  old,  but  want  of  funds  more  often 
leads  them  to  bury  them.  They  have  a  fixed  burial 
ground  to  which  dead  bodies  are  taken  after  being 
washed  and  anointed.  The  Eniangans  carry  the  corpse 
on  a  bamboo  bier.  A  pit  -is  dug  due  north  to  south 
and  the  body  is  let  in  with  heads  towards  the  south. 
The  sons  and  relatives  throw  earth  into  it  and,  when 
the  grave  is  partly  filled,  seven  layers  of  small  stones 
are  placed  in  it.  More  earth  is  then  thrown  in  and 
seven  more  layers  are  added.  The  grave  is  finally 
filled  up  with  earth.  Three  big  stones  are  then  planted, 
one  at  each  end  and  one  in  the  middle.  From  the  time 
of  death  till  the  burial  is  over,  the  family  has  to  fast. 
They  then  bathe  and  eat  fruits  and  other  articles,  but 
may  not  take  cooked  food  till  the  following  day.  The 
death  pollution  lasts  for  10  days,  during  which  they 
are  prohibited  from  meat.  From  the  second  day  for- 
wards  the  son  or  other  relative  who  performed  the 
funeral  rites  bathes  every  morning  and  offers  oblations 
of  balls  of  rice  and  water  to  the  spirit  of  the  deceased. 
He  has  to  cook  his  food  for  himself.  If  he  cannot  do 
this,  only  an  Eriangan  can  do  it  for  him,  and  none  else. 
On  the  nth  day  they  take  a  quantity  of  rice,  some 
Karuka  grass,  some  water  in  a  cocoanut  shell,  a  plan¬ 
tain  leaf  with  the  tips-  entire  and  a  lighted  wick.  The 
agnates  assembled  go  to  a  reservoir  and  bathe.  A 
figure  is  made  of  sand  to  represent  the  deceased  before 
which  the  plantain  leaf  is  spread  with  the  tip  towards 
the  east.  The  other  articles  are  placed  on  the  leaf. 
The  eldest  son  or  other  relative  commences  the  cere¬ 
mony  by  standing  in  front  of  the  leaf,  his  face  turned 
towards  the  east,  and  throws  the  water  with  his  right 
hand  towards  the  east,  according  to  some,  three  times, 

while,  according  to  others,  ten  times.  He  then  raises 

BP 


538  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21, 

his  hands  above  his  head  and  salutes  the  deceased  and 
prostrates  himself.  All  the  agnates  follow  him  in  this. 
They  then  retire,  leaving  the  rice  to  be  eaten  by  crows. 
The  party  then  returns  home  and  the  Eriangan  purifies 
them  by  sprinkling  on  each  a  mixture  of  cow-dung  and 
water.  The  eldest  son  observes  Dlksha  or  penance, 
growing  his  hair  for  one  year  during  which  period  he 
abstains  from  eating  meat.  At  the  close  of  the  year, 
he  performs  SrSdha  and  terminates  his  Dlksha. 
After  this  at  certain  fixed  days,  such  as  Kafkataka 
Samkranti,  he  makes  oblations.  If  the  body  had  been 
cremated,  the  bones  are  collected  on  the  seventh  day 
and  preserved  in  a  pot  to  be  finally  consigned  into  a 
stream  or  river.  In  cases  of  burial,  after  some  time, 
the  grave  is  dug  up,  the  bones  are  taken  and  burnt. 
The  ashes  are  collected  and  buried  by  the  side  of  the 
stream.  On  this  the  agnates  pour  water  three  times 
reverentially,  prostrate  themselves  and  retire.  Of 
course  there  is  the  funeral  repast.  It  is  indeed  curious 
that  in  all  this  the  NayStis  closely  imitate,  so  far  as 
they  can,  the  higher  classes.  But  why  they  should  do 
this  in  the  matter  of  the  death  ceremonies  alone  is  not 
apparent  except  that  they  are  being  gradually  caught 
in  the  eddyiof  Hinduism. 

Caste  government .  The  senior  members  of  the 
community  are  known  as  Pramsnies.  The  priest  is 
called  Muppen  whose  function  is  hereditary.  There 
is  another  officer  called  Avakasi  who  is  entitled  to  two- 
thirds  of  the  shares  in  all  domestic  ceremonies,  rather 
a  large  slice  in  the  case  of  such  poor  people.  The 
Muppen  has  the  power  to  enquire  into  all  matters 
affecting  the  community  and  can  excommunicate  any 
guilty  person. 

Hill  Tribes,  not  noticed  by  our  author .  The  hill 
tribes  of  Travancore  may  broadly  be  divided  into  two 
sections,  viz.,  those  living  towards  the  south  known  as 
Ka$ikkar  and  those  living  towards  the  north  known  as 
Mala  Arayans.  Similarly  the  hill  tribes  of  the  Cochin 
State  may  also  be  divided  into  Kstar  and  Malayar 


GROUP  OF  RADARS. 


HILL  TRIBES 


539 


S.  Nt  19.] 

signifying  1  jungle-dwellers  '  and  ‘hill- men’.  The 
Katar  are  found  in  the  forests  of  the  Nellismpafi, 
Parampikuiam  and  Atirappiiii  hills,  while  the  Mala- 
yar  are  confined  to  the  regions  of  Pafavattani, 
Palappiili,  Kotasseri,  Machad  and  Elanad.  The 
differences  between  the  several  classes  of  hill  tribes 
are  due  more  to  their  isolated  living  in  distant  tracts 
of  hills  and  forests  which  present  physical  difficulties 
for  intercourse  with  each  other  than  to  any  variety  in 
origin. 

According  to  Mr.  Bourdillon,  late  of  the  Travan- 
core  Forest  Department,  the  Travancore  hillmen  are 
divided  into  12  or  14  tribes,  who  live  apart,  and  whose 
memoers  do  not  inter-marry  with  those  of  other  tribes. 
Each  tribe  or  clan  has  a  certain  tract  of  country  which 
is  considered  to  belong  to  it,  and  even  each  village  of 
a  tribe  has  its  land  allotted  to  it;  and  no  one  would 
dare  to  encroach  on  the  land  assigned  to  another  clan 
or  another  village  without  permission.  These  hillmen 
live  scattered  through  the  forest  of  the  State  from  the 
extreme  south  to  the  confines  of  the  Cochin  State. 

Though  split  into  so  many  tribes,  living  apart  and 
not  intermarrying  with  one  another,  they  probably 
sprang  from  2  or  at  most  3  sources.  They  are  all 
dark  skinned  and  many  of  them  have  short  noses  and 
thick  lips  and  possess  African  features.  It  is  probable, 
therefore,  that  they  are  descendants  of  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants  of  the  country  and  they  took  refuge  in  the 
forests  to  avoid  the  oppression  and  slavery  imposed 
upon  them  by  early  foreign  settlers. 

Designation .  The  term  Ksnikksran  means,  ac¬ 
cording  to  Dr.  Gundhert,  “one  who  has  some  claim  to 
an  estate.”  In  popular  language,  it  means  “hereditary 
proprietor  of  land”  and  the  Ksnikkar  claim  proprietor¬ 
ship  over  the  forest  tracts  they  inhabit.  They  refer  to 
a  tradition  that  “there  were  once  two  hill-kings,  Sri 
Rangan  and  Vlrappan  and  that  their  descendants  emi¬ 
grated  from  the  Pandyan  territories  beyond  Agastya- 


i 


540  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  si, 

kutam  under  pressure  from  superior  force  and  never 
returned  to  the  low  country.”  The  KSriikkars  abound 
in  the  Taluks  of  NeyySffinkara,  Viiavancode  and  Kal- 
culam.  To  this  has  to  be  added  the  few  Malavglans 
who  are  only  Katies  that  live  near  the  lowlands  in  the 
Taluks  of  Viiavancode  and  Neyyatftinkara. 

Appearance ,  Clothing  and  Ornaments •  The  Kanis 
are  generally  of  short  stature,  spare  body  and  of  dark 
colour.  Their  habits  are  active.  Some  have  markedly 
Negroid  features.  They  have  but  little  clothing  and  that 
unclean,  the  men  going  about  almost  naked,  having  only 
a  strip  of  cloth  round  their  waist;  the  women  are  better 
clad.  Both  men  and  women  wear  their  hair  long  and 
tie  it  into  a  round  knot  behind  the  head.  The  women 
indulge  in  strings  of  beads  and  shells  which  they 
wear  round  their  necks  as  ornaments.  Round  their 
wrists  bracelets  of  iron  and  brass,  and  in  the  ears  leaden 
rings  are  worn,  the  lobes  of  the  ears  being  artificially 
distended.  The  men  carry  with  them,  when  they 
go  out,  a  cane  basket  containing  their  food,  necessary 
utensils,  etc.,  a  long  staff,  a  heavy  knife  which  is  stuck 
in  the  waist  cloth  and  sometimes  a  bow  and  arrows. 

Food  and  Drink .  Their  food  is  but  scanty  and 
consists  of  what  they  can  gather  on  the  hills.  They 
seldom  come  down  to  the  plains,  so  that  they  have  to 
confine  themselves  to  fruits  and  roots  and  the  animals 
and  birds  they  can  entrap  or  shoot  with  their  bows  and 
arrows.  The  traps  for  the  wild  boar  and  tiger  are 
made  with  rough  timber  supported  on  a  spring  which 
falls  and  lets  down  the  whole  weight  upon  the  animal’s 
back.  They  eat  most  kinds  of  fish.  Till  but  recently, 
they  were  strangers  to  liquor,  but  they  have  now  con¬ 
tracted  the  vice  of  drink  from  their  civilized  neighbours 
on  the  plains.  Cow  life  is  scrupulously  honoured. 
They  do  not  eat  the  wild  ox  or  buffalo,  nor  the  grey  or 
Hanuman  monkey,  but  only  the  black  species.  They 
will  not  eat  with  the  ShanSro  or  Iluvas  or  still  lower 
castes  but  will  take  food  cooked  by  Nsyars. 


HILL  TRIBES 


541 


£.  N.  19.] 

Occupation  and  Living,  They*  form  a  migratory 
population,  cutting  down  patches  of  forests,  burning 
and  clearing  them  for  purposes  of  cultivation.  On  these 
patches  of  land,  they  sow  a  crop  with  little  or  no 
tillage  and  continue  raising  the  crop  for  3  or  4  years. 
When  they  find  the  soil  exhausted,  they  move  on  to 
other  patches,  thus  employing  the  whole  forest  in  time 
for  agricultural  purposes.  They  do  not,  however,  go 
long  distances.  They  grow  rice-  and  millet,  tapioca 
and  sweet  potatoes,  raggi,  plantains,  ganja,  tobacco 
and  pulses  of  sorts.  Generally  the  clearing  of  the 
jungle  for  agricultural  purposes  is  commenced  on  a 
Friday  in  the  months  of  November,  December  and 
January.  The  felled  wood  and  undergrowth  is  allowed 
to  dry  up  before  they  are  burnt,  and  the  seeds  are 
sown  almost  invariably  on  a  Monday  9 r  Friday  in 
April,  May  and  June.  The  Ksmis  have  had  recently 
to  give  up  their  habit  of  migratory  cultivation  as  the 
new  Forest  Laws  prevent  them  from  clearing  and 
setting  fire  to  patches  of  their  selection  in  the  forests, 
and  they  have  resigned  themselves  to  the  new  order  of 
things.  They  console  themselves  by  saying  “as  the 
sovereign  has  commanded  that  no  jungle  should  be 
burnt  nor  any  trees  felled,  we  have  had  to  resolve  on 
giving  up  the  migratory  cultivation.'  At  present  each 
Ka^ii  village  has  its  own  forest  block  for  cultivation 
with  which  other  villagers  are  not  to  interfere.  The 
Kaijis  do  not  pay  any  tax  to  Government.  They  occa¬ 
sionally  go  in  a  body  to  pay  homage  to  the  Maharaja 
at  Trivandrum.  They  are  •  received  very  kindly  and 
the  Maharaja  accepts  the  Nazzur  they  offer.  These 
consist  of  (1)  the  bamboo  plantain  with  large  though 
few  fruits,  (2)  a  parcel  of  Muttucheri  hill  paddy  seed, 
(3)  bamboo  joints  holding  honey  of  different  varieties 
and  (4)  Virukachattam  or  a  parcel  of  civet.  The 
Ksnis  fancy  that  the  large  bamboo  plantain  is  reserved 
for  the  use  of  the  Raja  only,  and  Mr.  Mateer  tells  us 
that  he  had  great  difficulty  in  inducing  them  to  part 
with  a  sucker  of  this  curious  plant.  At  the  interview 


542  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

they  have  with  the  Maharaja,  the  customary  modes  of 
court  address  and  court  etiquette  are  dispensed  with. 
They  address  the  Maharaja  without  the  usual  honorifics, 
and  their  boorish  ways  are  good  naturedly  excused. 
The  Maharaja,  pleased  with  their  simplicity,  unsophisti¬ 
cated  manners  and  unaffected  homage,  make  them 
presents  of  cloth,  money,  salt  and  tobacco.  The  Ks^is 
are  employed  by  Government  to  collect  forest  produce, 
such  as  honey,  cardamoms,  wax,  ginger,  dammer, 
Kun^irikkam,  and  elephant  tusks  in  return  for  a  small 
remuneration  known  as  KujivSram.  They  also  occupy 
themselves  in  the  capture  of  wild  animals,  such  as 
the  elephant,  '*  the  tiger  and  the  wild  boar,  and  the 
making  of  wicker  work,  of  bamboo,  rattan  and  reed. 
They  are  very  ingenious  at  wicker  work  of  bamboo 
and  reed.  Mr.  Mateer  says  that  he  has  seen  a  bridge 
over  a  river,  a  hundred  feet  wide,  constructed  by 
the  Ka^ikkar,  of  wicker  work  made  of  bamboo 
materials  over  which  a  pony  could  pass.  They  are 
of  service  to  sportsmen  and  travellers.  From  their 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  forests  and  hills,  they 
can  readily  point  out  the  places  haunted  by  wild 
animals  which  they  recognise  by  the  smell.  They  thus 
warn  the  traveller  against  danger  or  guide  sportsmen 
to  their  game.  Referring  to  the  faculty  of  observation 
developed  in  these  hill  tribes  from  their  mode  of  life, 
Sir  William  Crooks,  the  Great  Indian  Ethnologist, 
observes, — “One  thing  the  jungle  dweller  acquires  by 
this  course  of  life,  is  a  marvellous  insight  into  nature 
and  her  secrets.  His  eyesight  and  power  of  hearing  are 
wonderful.  He  sees  or  hears  a  tiger  creeping  down  a 
ravine  long  before  sportsmen  will.  Every  thing  in  the 
forest  has  a  meaning  for  him — the  grunt  of  the  monkey, 
as  the  tiger  comes  beneath  his  tree,  the  hoarse  alarm 
bark  of  the  stag.  From  the  way  the  vultures  hover  in 
the  air,  he  will  tell  whether  the  tiger  has  finished  his 
meal,  or  is  still -tearing  the  carcase.  Every  foot  mark, 
a  displaced  pebble,  a  broken  grass  stalk  will  tell  him 
something.” 


HILL  TRIBES 


543 


S.  N.  19] 

The  method  of  their  making  fire  is  thus  described 
by  Mr*  Mateer.  *‘A  peg  of  the  wood  of  Isora  Coryli - 
folia( or  of  bamboo)  is  taken  and  inserted  in  a  small  reed 
which  is  rapidly  revolved  on  another  piece  of  the  same 
wood,  this  being  the  best  for  the  purpose:  in  a  few 
minutes  smoke  is  evolved,  then  fire,  which  is  caught  in 
tinder  contained  in  a  small  joint  of  bamboo,  and  can 
then  easily  be  preserved  or  carried  about.” 

The  Ka$is  live  together  in  small  bodies,  each  ham¬ 
let  being  under  the  rule  of  a  headman  or  Muttaks^i 
(=the  eldest  Ks$i)  who  wields  considerable  authority 
over  them.  Their  huts  are  neatly  made  of  bamboos 
and  the  elephant  reed,  the  leaves  and  stems  being 
interwoven  for  walls  as  well,  as  roof.  Besides  the  huts 
on  the  ground,  a  number  of  booths  are  built  on  trees 
with  large  branches,  a  platform  being  made  of  sticks 
and  the  hut  built  on  this  in  order  to  be  out  of  the  way 
of  mischievous  elephants,  tigers,  etc.  Access  is 
obtained  by  a  ladder  or  a  single  bamboo  with  the  side 
shoots  cut  off  on  either  side  at  a  distance  of  a  few 
inches. 

Caste  government .  The  Kani  community  is  gov¬ 
erned  in  the  patriarchal  method  by  the  Mujta  Ks$i 
who  is  entitled  to  certain  perquisites.  He  is,  as  the 
very  term  imports,  the  eldest  member  of  the  village 
councils,  and  can  be  removed  only  by  constitutional 
methods.  Questions  relating  to  marriage,  divorce,  etc., 
are  discussed  at  village  Panchayats. 

Language .  The  KSjrjis  call  their  language  Malam • 
pashaiy  t-  e .,  the  language  of  the  mountains-  It  is  a 
dialectic  form  of  Malayalam  with  a  large  admixture  of 
Tamil.  The  southern  Kariis  speak  Tamil,  and  it  is  the 
northerns  that  use  Malamps$hai.  Their  pronounciation 
is  very  bad.  As  observed  by  Mr.  Mateer,  “Words 
strange  to  the  people  of  the  coast,  or  archaic,  are 
intermingled  with  their  speech  as  ‘Ksla’  (  Kalayi, 
second  cultivation  of  a  rice  field),  for  a  place  where  they 
have  remained  for  two  years  ;  ‘Kuruma’  (Kurumba) 


544  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

a  child  ;  ‘yengachi’  (where  ?)  for  ‘yevide’  and  ‘pati’  (a 
fold)  or  ‘wadi*  (an  enclosure,  entrenchment)  for  house; 
with  other  oddities  in  talk  which  it  required  some  time 
to  become  familiar  with”.  It  will  be  observed  that  the 
terms  mentioned  in  the  above  extract  are  all  Malayalam 
words.  Kalay  means  a  second  cultivation  of  a  rice 
field  and  the  tax  on  this  cultivation  goes  by  the  name 
of  Kalay  nikuthi  in  the  official  language  of  the  Cochin 
State,  Again,  according  to  Dr.  Gundhert,  Kurumba 
means,  an  infant  and  the  Goddess  of  Cranganore  goes 
by  the  name  of  Sri  Kurumba.  Wsdi  is  still  used  for 
‘house’  as  in  Tachchu  wadi  a  carpenter’s  house. 

Sub- divisions.  There  are  amongst  them  two  sub¬ 
divisions  of  5  Illams  in  each,  one  being  exogamous  and 
the  other  endogamous  as  Machchampi  or  brother-in-law 
Illams.  The  names  of  the  former  are  (1)  Kali,  (2) 
3)  Talamala,  (4)  Kurumilla  and  (5)  Perim.  The 
names  of  the  latter  are  (1)  Mangot,  (2).  Moot,  (3)  Per- 
ingalatti,  (4)  Vel  and  (5)  Vellanat. 

Marriage .  Girls  are  married  between  the  ages  of 
7  and  12,  and  boys  above  16.  But  girls  remain  unmar¬ 
ried  even  beyond  the  age  of  16,  “because  no  bride¬ 
groom  has  offered.”  The  husband  need  not  be  older 
than  the  wife,  instances  of  women  of  30  and  35  years 
old  being  married  to  adults  of  20  being  not  rare.  A 
Kajji  youth  desirous  of  marrying  a  girl  visits  the  uncle 
or  parents  accompanied  by  four  of  his  relatives  who 
make  the  proposal.  They  consult  their  relations  and 
give  an  answer.  The  matter  is  then  submitted  for  the 
consideration  of  the  village  council,  and  after  it  is 
settled  there,  the  marriage  day  is  fixed  and  guests  are 
invited  by  both  parties.  It  is  indispensible  that  the 
invitations  should  be  accompanied  with  presents  of 
betel  and  spice.  Otherwise  the  invited  guest  will  not 
attend.  When  the  bridegroom  and  party  arrives  at  the 
bride’s  house  where  the  marriage  takes  place,  the 
headman  or  the  Mutta  Ksiji  declares  in  the  presence  of 
those  assembled  that  so  and  so  is  to  be  married  to  so 


HILL  TRIBES 


545 


S.  N.  19] 

and  so.  The  bridegroom  presents  a  cloth  to  the 

bride’s  mother  which  is  called  Amma  Vitu  Mundu — 

•  •.  • 

‘Mother’s  house  cloth’  and  five  and  a  half  fanams  (i2as. 
10  ps.)  to  her  uncle,  if  she  has  become  marriageable;  if 
otherwise,  seven  and  a  half  fanams  (i.  e.t  Re.  1  a.  1  ps.  6). 
He  also  gives  betel  and  nut  to  the  bride  who  is  brought 
into  the  marriage  shed  amongst  the  company  assembled. 
The  bridegroom  then  takes  the  tali  in  his  hand,  wor¬ 
ships  the  sun  and  holds  the  string  to  which  the  tali  is 
attached  round  the  neck  of  the  bride  and  his  sister 
standing  behind  ties  it  on.  He  also  hands  over  a  cloth 
to  his  sister  who  puts  it  on  the  bride.  Marriage  pre¬ 
sents  are  given  by  friends  and  relatives.  The  headman, 
according  to  Mr.  Mateer,  offers  some  ‘‘advice”  to  the 
husband  as  to  the  management  of  his  wife,  beginning 
his  rule  with  mild  measures  and  proceeding  to  extre¬ 
mities  only  by  degrees  as  required.  The  heads  of  his 
discourse  are  drawn  from  a  well-known  Malayalam 
saying  and  are  as  follows: — 

1.  Cholli  Kotu — teach  by  words,  2.  Nulli  Kotu — 
teach  by  pinching — slight  punishment,  3.  Talli  Kotu — 
teach  by  blows — and  lastly,  4.  Talli  Kala — cast  her 
away  (that  is  if  she  will  not  obey). 

The  higher  classes, that  dwell  on  the  plains  and 
pretend  to  a  higher  civilization  than  these  simple 
hillmen  will  do  well  to  take  a  lesson  from  the  discourse 
of  the  Mutta  Kani. 

On  the  marriage  day,  those  who  can  afford  to  do 
so,  hold  a  feast  at  the  bride’s  house,  and  another  on  the 
next  day  at  the  bridegroom’s.  Others  satisfy  themselves 
with  entertaining  their  guests  with  betel  and  nut  to 
chew  and  Indian  hemp  to  smoke. 

The  dowry  consists  generally  of  brass  vessels, 
earthen  ones,  mattocks,  a  large  chopper,  an  axe, 
pulses  and  grains,  etc. 

Lapses  from  virtue  in  women  are  severely  dealt 
with.  If  such  occur  before  marriage,  the  Kani  society 

BQ; 


546 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  21. 


will  compel  the  man,  if  found  out,  to  make  amends  by 
legalising  the  union  into  a  formal  alliance.  Adultery 
used  to  be  punished  with  death;  but  now  the  culprit  is 
subjected  in  some  places  to  four  lashes  on  the  back  and 
often  a  money  penalty  alone  is  enacted.  Widow 
marriage  is  permitted,  the  new  bridegroom  presenting 
cloth  to  the  widow  with  the  consent  of  the  village 
council  and  the  guardians  of  the  widow.  Divorce  also 
is  permitted,  but  is  of  very  rare  occurrence,  and  is 
effected  by  the  village  council  after  due  consideration. 
The  separated  husband  will  have  to  give  back  the  wife’s 
dowry. 

Inheritance .  In  the  matter  of  inheritance,  there  is 
some  difference  between  the  Kariis  who  live  in  the 
interior  of  the  hills  and  those  living  near  the  plains. 
The  former  follow  MakkattSyam,  the  sons  taking  the 
fathers’  property,  if  any.  And  yet  it  is  not  Makkat{2- 
yam  pure  and  simple,  for  a  moiety  of  the  personal 
property  goes  to  the  sister’s  son,  i.  e .,  the  nephews. 
With  those  living  on  or  near  the  plains,  the  self- 
acquired  property  is  distributed  equally  between  the 
sons  and  the  nephews.  If  there  are  no  sons,  the  nephews 
inherit  the  whole  property,  the  right  of  the  widow 
being  confined  to  maintenance  alone. 

Ceremonies .  The  most  important  ceremony  after 
marriage  is  the  Vayaru  Ponkala  which  is  performed  at 
an  advanced  stage  of  pregnancy.  It  consists  in  boiling 
some  rice  before  an  image  of  Ga^apati  and  then  offer¬ 
ing  it  to  the  sun.  Offerings  are  also,  made  at  the  same 
time  of  beaten  rice,  fried  rice,  cakes,  plantain  fruits, 
tender  cocoanuts,  etc.  The  headman  performs  a  dance 
repeating  Mantrams.  He  waves  the  offerings  to  the 
sun.  The  first  rice  giving  to  a  child  is  celebrated  with 
a  feast,  at  least  to  four  of  the  villages.  Offerings  are 
also  given  to  the  village  demons.  The  child  receives 
its  name  when  able  to  sit  on  the  ground,  generally  three 
or  four  months  after  birth.  The  usual  names  are  Parap - 
pankani ,  Saltan ,  Eiyan ,  Madappan ,  Vikkaran%  for  men; 


HILL  TRIBES 


S.  N.  if.] 


547 


and  for  women — EchchU  Vallu  Kannamier ,  Poomalie , 
Parappu  etc. 


Sickness  and  Death .  When  the  Ksni  takes  ill,  the 
headman  is  at  once  consulted;  he  visits  the  sick  and 
orders  two  drumming  and  singing  ceremonies  to  be 
performed.  A  whole  night  is  spent  in  dancing, 
singing  and  drumming  and  in  offering  prayers  for  the 
recovery  of  the  patients.  The  offerings  consist  of  tapioca, 
flour  and  cocoanuts,  etc.  After  some  time,  the  headman, 
with  manifestations  of  demoniac  possession,  reveals 
whether  the  sufferer  will  die  or  not.  If  he  will  die,  he 
repeats  a  Mantram  (Kutumi  Vettu  Mantram;  formula 
on  cutting  off  the  top-knot;  and  cuts  off  the  sick  man’s 
Kutumi.  This  being  a  sign  of  approaching  death,  the 
relatives  and  others  pay  their  last  visits  to  the  sick. 


After  death,  a  mixture  of  ganja  (hemp),  raw  rice 
.and  cocoanut  is  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  corpse  by 
the  sons  and  nephews;  and  it  is  buried  at  some  distance 
from  their  abode,  Mantrams  being  repeated  over  the 
body.  Occasionally  one  is  cremated.  The  relatives 
bathe  before  returning  home,  and  cannot  take  any  of 
the  produce  of  their  lands  till  the  death  pollution  is 
removed  and  ceremonies  are  performed  lest  that 
wild  beasts  will  attack  them  or  destroy  their  crops. 
To  avoid  this,  a  small  shed  is  built  outside  their  clearing. 
On  the  third  day,  three  measures  of  rice  are  boiled  and 
placed  in  a  cup  or  on  a  plantain  leaf  inside  the  shed: 
then  all  bathe  once  more  and  return  home  On  the 
seventh  day,  all  this  is  repeated,  the  old  shed  being 
pulled  down  and  a  new  one  put  up.  Oh  returning  to  their 
dwelling,  they  sprinkle  cowdung  on  their  houses  and  in 
the  yard  which  finally  removes  the  defilement.  People 
in  better  circumstances  make  a  feast  of  curry  and  rice 
for  all  present- 

We  gather  from  the  Travancore  Census  Report 
that  the  cremation  of  dead  bodies  generally  takes 


548 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


|L.  21. 

place  on  the  bank  of  a  stream  or  river  and  that  all  the 
neighbouring  villagers,  both  male  and  female,  have 
to  pour  water  over  the  corpse  with  both  hands.  Some  of, 
the  cooking  utensils  ob  the  house-hold  of  the  deceased 
person  are  broken,  as  typifying  the  end  of  his  connec¬ 
tion  with  earthly  things.  Dr.  Subramania  Ayyar  remarks 
“it  is  significant  to  note  that  many  of  these  form  part 
of  the  Brahmanical  funeral  ceremonial”. 

Ceremonies  with  reference  to  cultivation .  Here 
also  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  Mr.  Mateer. 
“When  intending  to  clear  some  land,  the  headman  is 
invited  Three  edungaly  measures  of  rice  and  six 
cocoanuts  are  presented  to  him.  These  he  takes  to 
a  suitable  plot  of  forest-land,  makes  an  offering  and 
first  clears  a  small  portion  with  his  own  hand;  then  the 
others  follow.  These  offerings  are  repeated  at  the 
burning  of  the  felled  timber,  and  the  sowing  of  the 
seed,  plantain  fruits  and  other  articles  being  added. 
On  the  first  appearance  of  the  ear,  they  spend  two  nights 
in  drumming,  singing  and  repeating  Mantrams  at  the 
fiejd,  putting  up  a  tattu  or  platform,  on  four  sticks  as 
a  shrine  for  the  spirits,  where  they  offer  raw  rice, 
tender  cocoanuts, flowers,  etc. 

“At  harvest  time  a  sufficient  quantity  of  rice  being 
eaten,  sweet-meats  are  prepared,  and  cocoanuts, plantain 
fruits  and  flowers  added  to  these  for  a  general  offering 
to  the  various  spirits  such  as  Ayiravilli,  ‘  he  of  a  thou¬ 
sand  bows';  Madan  Tamburan,  ‘the  cow-like  Lord 
Malian  Tamburan,  ‘  the  Giant  Lord  Mathandan 
Pey,  ‘the  Sun  Demon  Pucha  Malian  Pey,  ‘  the 
Cat  Giant  Demon,  Athirakodi  Pay,  ‘  the  Boundary 
flag  Demon;”  and  a  great  many  others  whom  they 
regard  as  deities.  They  wait  upon  the  headman  for 
the  manifestations  of  the  gods,  then  devour  the 
offerings”1. 

.Religion.  The  KSniikkars  are  demon  worshippers. 
Some  of  the  demons  whom  they  adore  Mve  already 

l  Native  Life  in  Travancoret  pages  68—69. 


HILL  TRIBES 


549 


S.  N.  19.] 

been  named.  These  demons  are  said  to  be  peculiarly 
hill  deities  whose  function  is  to  rule  the  wild  beasts  and 
restrain  them  from  doing  mischief.  They  are  supposed 
to  reside  in  large  trees.  There  are  no  distinctive 
images  used  for  worship,  but  any  stone  is  good  enough 
as  an  idol  or  fetish  when  occasion  required  one.  “The 
Kanikkars  have  no  much  idea"*  observes  Mr.  Mateer, 
“of  the  soul  or  immortality.  When  asked  they  say 
‘Who  can  tell?’.  Some  with  whom  we  conversed  said 
they  knew  nothing  of  a  hell,  or  of  the  wicked  going 
the  re,  ' * 

Sorcery  and  Witchcraft .  The  KSnikkars  are 
addicted  to  sorcery  and  witchcraft.  They  have  little 
faith  in  medicine.  Their  medicine-man  is  the  sorcerer. 
It  is  his  songs  and  dances  that  propitiate  the  demons 
that  cause  illness  and  lead  to  cures.  One  of  their 
curious  dances  has  been  graphically  described  by 
Mr.  A.  P.  Smith  who  witnessed  it.  He  says: — “The 
propitiatory  ceremony  should  ordinarily  be  done  every 
year  just  before  the  harvesting  of  the  grain  commences. 
It  is  commonly  called  the  Oattu ,  feeding  ceremony. 
The  officiating  Kani  is  generally  an  elderly  and 
influential. man  who  professes  inspiration  and  knowledge 
obtained  when  asleep.  The  articles  necessary  to  per¬ 
form  the  ceremony  are  called  Padukka  or  sacrifice,  and 
Ashtamangalyam .  Padukka  is  for  the  adult  gods  or 
manes,  male  or  female,  called  Chavu ,  and  Ashtamanga - 
lyam  is  for  the  virgins  who  have  died,  called  Kanyakas. 
A  temporary  pavilion  or  pandal  had  been  erected  in 
front  of  the  house  and  the  courtyard  known  as  the 
mittam — and  from  the  canopy  long  streamers  of  lender 
cocoanut  leaves,  plantain  bunches,  the  tender  cocoanuts 
with  their  husk  on,  were  hung.  Bunches  of  arecanuts 
and  flowers  adorned  the  posts  and  pillars  and  gave  an 
air  of  festivity  to  the  scene.  Fires  were  burning 
outside,  round  which — for  the  nights  were  dewy  and 
the  air  keen— -were  groups  of  people  enjoying  the 
warmth,  and  gossiping.  The  primitive  oil  lamp 
appeared  in  places,  while  the  smoky  kerosene  tin  lamp, 


550  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

without  chimney,  was  much  in  evidence  and  tainted 
the  pure  atmosphere.  Small  heaps  consisting  of  boiled 
rice  (port),  paddy,  one  tender  cocoanut,  a  spring  of 
arecanut  flowers,  betel,  nut  were  placed  on  plantain 
leaves  in  seven  definite  spots.  The  officiating 
Kanikaran,  dressed  in  his  usual  every  day  costume, 
except  his  covering  cloth,  after  formally  getting  the 
permission  of  the  assembled  spectators  and  persons 
interested  in  the  ceremony,  and  especially  of  one  who 
subsequently  appeared  in  the  scene  as  the  chief  dancer, 
began  a  monotonous  chant,  in  what  appeared  to  be  a 
mixed  language.  Parts  of  this  singing  were  wholly 
unintelligible,  but  it  was  understood  to  be  a  history  of 
the  beginning  of  earthly  things,  a  record  of  the  life  and 
doings  of  the  souls  departed  this  life  whose  protection 
was  prayed  for,  and  a  prayer  for  the  souls  of  those 
persons  for  whose  benefit  the  ceremony  of  propitiation 
was  in  progress.  Now  and  again  the  feelings  of  the 
narrator  or  singer  would  overcome  him,  and  he  would 
indulge  in  a  shout,  or  an  emphatic  gesticulation.  This 
went  on  for  about  three  or  four  hours,  punctuated  at 
intervals  by  the  firing  of  petards  or  of  old  smooth  bore 
guns,  shouts  and  Kurava  cries.  The  Kurava  cry  is  the 
ululation,  in  a  shrill  tone  by  Malayalee  women  at  all 
important  ceremonies.  The  crowd  of  people  present 
did  not  mind  the  chanting  much,  but  talked  apart  in 
groups,  gossiped,  warmed  themselves  at  the  various 
fires  and  seemed  to  enjoy  the  midnight  picnic  immense¬ 
ly.  Before  the  chanting  terminated,  a  large  heap  of 
the  red  thetti  poo  ( Ixora  coccinca )  about  a  yard  square 
at  the  base,  had  been  raised  in  the  centre  of  the  pandal 
and  it  was  prettily  picked  out  with  areca  flowers  in 
artistic  designs.  I  was  getting  tired  of  this  endless 
noise  and  was  expecting  to  see  the  old  Kanikar  begin 
his  attitudinising  and  dancing  when  the  horrible  sound 
of  a  human  voice  roaring  like  a  wild  beast  aroused 
every  one  to  a  sense  of  activity.  From  behind  the  hut 
came  the  man  mentioned  earlier  in  this  paper  and  he 
was  very  primitively  clothed  indeed,  his  hair  hanging 


HILL  TRIBES 


551 


S,  N.  19.I 

loose,  his  eyes  staring  and  what  appeared  like  foam  at 
his  mouth.  He  would  stand,  run  short  distances,  leap, 
sit,  agitate  his  body  and  dance,  keeping  step  to  the 
rythmic  and  muffled  beating  of  the  drum,  and  this  he 
did  for  ten  minutes  or  so.  Suddenly,  with  a  shout,  he 
dived  into  the  hut  specially  set  apart  as  the  teeding 
place  of  the  god  Madan  and  presently  appeared  with 
two  long  sticks  adorned  at  their  ends  with  bells  which 
emitted  a  jingling  sound.  The  frenzy  of  motion, 
ecstatic,  unregulated  and  ungovernable  was  apparently 
infectious,  for  a  young  man,  hitherto  a  silent  spectator 
of  the  scene,  gave  a  shout  and  began  to  dance  wildly, 
throwing  up  his  arms  and  stepping  out  quite  actively* 
This  encouragement  stimulated  the  original  performer, 
for  he  caught  a  man  standing  near,  by  the  neck,  thrust 
the  stick  with  the  bells  into  his  hand  and  he  thereupon 
started  dancing  as  well.  In  about  ten  minutes  there 
were  about  half  a  dozen  wild' dancing  dervishes,  snout- 
ing,  gesticulating,  revolving,  and  most  certainly  in  an 
abnormal  state  of '  excitement.  Not  contented  with 
this,  a  dying  but  still  glowing  heap  of  fire  and  ashes 
became  the  centre  of  attraction,  for  the  chief  dancer 
danced  over  the  fire  and  sent  the  sparks  flying  and 
scattered  the  wood  and  evoked  the  admiration  and 
eulogies  of  the  crowd.  Streaming  with  perspiration, 
spotted  with  wood  ashes,  wild,  dishevelled  and  exhaust¬ 
ed,  the  chief  dancing  demoniac  stepped  under  the 
pandal  and  finally  sat  himself  before  the  heap  of  the 
red  thetti  poo  and  tossed  the  cool  red  dewy  blossoms 
over  his  head  in  a  kind  of  shower  bath.  He  was  assist¬ 
ed  in  this  by  the  old  Kanikar  and  other  bystanders. 
Sitting  thus,  a  little  boy  was  brought  before  him  and 
he  (the  man  in  the  flowers)  called  the  lad  by  a  name. 
And  this  was  his  christening  ceremony,  for  the  lad 
assumed  the  name  from  that  date.  The  chief  dancer 
then  stood  up  and  appeared  to  be  in  a  possessed  state 
still,  and  immediately,  a  fine  old  rooster  was  brought 
in,  and  its  throat  was  cut  by  the  Kanikar  and  handed 
to  the  dancer  who  eagerly  applied  his  lips  to  the  gaping 


552  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

wound  and  drained  the  blood,  swallowing  the  fluid 

audibly.  Before  relinquishing  his  hold  of  the  bird,  he 
swayed  and  fell  on  the  ground  in  what  seemed  to  be*a 
swoon.  This  indicated  that  the  sacrifice  had  been 
acceptable,  that  the  propitiation  was  perfected  and  that 
all  the  wishes  of  the  persons  interested  in  them  would 
be  granted.  The  crowd  then  set  to  eating  and  drinking 
the  sacrificial  elements  and  dispersed  an  hour  or  two 
after — the  drums  for  a  wonder  remaining  silent  after 
the  ceremony,,  l. 

General  character  and  present  condition .  The 
KSijikkar  maintain  a  reputation  for  a  high  standard  of 
domestic  honour  and  morality.  They  are  thoroughly 
straight-forward,  honest  and  truthful,  so  much  so,  that 
they  afford  an  interesting  object  lesson  to  the  more 
civilized  people  on  the  plains.  Rude,  hardy  and  cour¬ 
ageous,  as  they  are,  they  are  altogether  inoffensive. 
They  are  hospitable  to  strangers  and  afford  them  every 
assistance  during  their  sojourn  on  the  hills.  The  vice 
of  drunkenness  is  their  besetting  sin.  It  is  of  almost 
universal  prevalence  and  it  is  difficult  to  wean  them 
from  it.  Christian  Missionary  endeavours  have  not  had 
much  success  among  these  simple  people.  Of  their 
present  condition,  Mr.  Honiss  observes,  “The  fate  of 
the  hill  kings  is  rather  sad.  For  ages  past  they  have 
boastecj  of  being  the  undisputed  lords  of  the  primeval 
forests.  'The  elephant  and  tiger  were  their  only  foes; 
but  with  snares  and  traps  they  could  hold  their  own 
against  these  enemies.  But  they  could  not  resist  the 
onward  march  of  a  superior  race.  The  planter  ap¬ 
proaches  them  in  a  peaceable  way  offering  wages  for 
their  hire,  but  demanding  as  his  right  the  land  he  has 
purchased.  The  proud  men  of  the  woods  decline  to 
herd  with  coolies,  and  work  like  common  people.  As 
soon  as  the  planter’s  axe  is  heard,  the  hill  kings  pack 
their  traps  and  desert  their  homes  to  establish  them¬ 
selves  in  another  valley.  In  this  way  they  have  been 

1.  Malabar  Quarterly  Review ,  Vol,  IV,  pp.  81—3. 


S.  N.  19.] 


HILL  TRIBES 


553 


driven  from  hill  to  hill  and  from  valley  to  valley,  until 
some  have  found  now  a  safe  resting  place  in  the  dense 
jungles  of  the  low  lands  of  Travancore.  If  the  planter 
wishes  to  penetrate  some  unexplored  jungle,  or  cut  a 
path  in  some  out-of-the-way  place,  the  hill  men  are 
ready  to  assist,  and  it  is  the  universal  testimony  that 
they  are  more  faithful  to  their  engagements  than  their 
more  civilized  brethren  from  the  plains”.1 

The  Mala  Arayans.  The  Mala  Arayans  of  Tra¬ 
vancore  are  a  much  more  civilized  class  than  other  hill 
tribes.  They  are  not  a  migratory  population  like  the 
others.  They  live  in  settled  villages  and  have  their 
cultivated  lands  and  pastures  which  they  own  for  them¬ 
selves.  They  are  a  Dravidian  people  who  live  on  the 
western  slope  of  the  Western  Ghats  between  Ouilon  in 
the  South  and  the  Travancorc-Cochin  boundary  line 
on  the  north. 

Designation .  Though  the  tribe  is  called  Arayan, 
they  have  no  affinity  whatever  with  the  Arayans  of  the 
coast  who  are  fishermen.  The  coincidence  in  name  is 
but  an  accident.  The  Mala  Arayans  inhabit  the  KottS- 
rakkara,  Changanasseri  and  PattanSpurarn  Taluks.  They 
number  2,048  men-  The  word  Mala  Arayan  is  not 
definite  in  its  denotation  and  often  applies  to  the  Ksijis 
as  well. 

A  ppearance ,  clothing  and  ornaments .  T  he  Arayans 
are  for  the  most  part  short  in  stature.  The  men  aver¬ 
age  5  feet  6  inches  in  height.  They  are  generally  not 
a  very  long  lived  race.  The  feverishness  of  the  climate 
in  the  districts  they  inhabit  is  enough  to  account  for 
any  physical  degeneracy  of  race.  They  are  in  colour 
as  fair  as  the  high  caste  Hindus,  the  women  frequently 
beautiful,  showing  that  the  aboriginies  of  India  are  not 
black  from  race  peculiarities,  but  only  sometimes  black 
through  circumstances.  Their  features  are  as  a  rule, 
well  formed.  The  lips  are  thin  and  the  nose  frequently 
aquiline.  They  wear  the  Kutumi  in  the  front  like 

1,  Quoted  in  Native  Life  in  Travancore ,  page  6C-n57- 

BR* 


554  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  *i. 

Nayars.  They  are  addicted  to  drunkenness  and  this 
makes  the  middle  aged  look  older  than  they  really  are; 
while  the  young  men,  from  exercise  in  the  clear  moun¬ 
tain  airs,  have  a  healthy  look.  They  are  rich  enough 
to  possess  some  gold  ornaments  and,  deck  themselves 
in  these,  and  make  use  of  better  clothing  than  others. 

Food  and  drink .  Being  large  cultivators  of  hill 
slopes,  some  of  them  are  rich,  and  most  of  them  have 
plenty  of  paddy  to  live  upon.  They  are  great  hunters 
of  wild  beasts  and  have  a  partiality  for  monkey  flesh. 
From  this  they  are  called  by  the  low  country 
people  Kurangan  Teeni ,  i.  e.,  “  monkey  eaters. ** 

They  draw  toddy  from  two  wild  palms  of  the  hills, 
and  much  arrack  is  taken  to  them  from  the  low 
country.  Drunkenness  is  their  great  drawback  and 
drunken  fits  and  quarrels  are  of  frequent  occurrence 
among  them.  They  chew  tobacco,  which  they  grow 
themselves,  along  with  the  bark  of  a  tree  in  place  of 
arecanut. 

Living  and  occupation .  Their  villages  consist  of 
houses  scattered  all  over  the  steep  hill  sides  like  bird’s 
nests  perched  among  the  rocks.  These  are  often  lovely 
spots,  in  a  ravine  not  accessible  to  elephants,  near  to 
some  rushing  rivulet  falling  over  granite  rocks,  and 
surrounded  by  gigantic  trees  and  palms.  Their 
villages  are  often  situated  between  500  and  2,000 
feet  above  the  sea  level.  Many  of  their  houses  are 
good,  substantial  erections  of  wood  and  stone,  built 
by  workmen  from  the  plains,  and  after  the  fashion 
common  to  the  western  coast,  but  in  many  cases  they 
prefer  temporary  huts  of  mud,  bamboo  and  grass  thatch, 
as  the  survivors  often  dislike  living  in  a  dwelling  in 
which  the  head  of  the  family  has  died.  Small  huts  are 
also  built  on  trees  for  watching  and  for  security  against 
wild  beasts.  Every  son  has  his  own  room  in  the  family 
house,  into  which  no  one  intrudes  excepting  himself 
and  his  wife.  There  is  a  general  store  for  provisions 
for  the  family,  which  is  provided  by  all  in  common,  but 


HILL  TRIBES 


S.  N.  19] 


555 


each  individual  has,  in  addition  his  own  cultivation  and 
store,  to  provide  for  his  private  wants. 


They  will  not  work  for  hire  generally  and  are  very 
averse  to  carrying  loads.  They  carry  their  produce  in 
baskets  slung  on  their  shoulders.  They  are  large 
cultivators  of  the  hill  slopes,  which  they  clear  of  jungle 
in  the  dry  season,  sowing  during  the  rains.  This  gives 
them  abundance  of  rice.  The  Arayans  have  certain 
signs  to  be  observed  when  fixing  on  land  for  cultivation 
or  site  of  a  house,  but  no  other  elaborate  religious 
rites.  In  choosing  a  piece  of  ground  for  cultivation, 
before  cutting  the  jungle,  they  take  five  strips  of  bark 
of  equal  length,  and  knot  all  the  ends  together,  holding 
them  in  the  left  hand  by  the  middle.  If  all,  when  tied, 
form  a  perfect  circle,  the  omen  is  lucky  and  the  position 
in  which  the  cord  falls  ori  the  ground  is  carefully  noted 
by  the  bystanders.  Little  terraces  are  cut  out  on  the 
steep  ascents  to  prevent  elephants  from  getting  at 
them,  and  some  protection  is  obtained  b)  high  and 
strong  fences  made  of  wood  from  the  trees  that  have 
been  felled.  Every  man  has,  however,  to  be  on  the  look 
out  with  loaded  guns,  during  seed  and  harvest  times,  to 
protect  the  crops  from  elephants,  deer  and  other  animals 
as  well  as  from  the  swarms  of  birds  which  destroy  the 
crops,  and  tigers  and  leopards  which  kill  the  cattle. 
They  are  also  frequently  exposed  to  drowning  in  the 
swollen  torrents  during  the  monsoon,  to  falls  from  trees 
and  precipices  which  they  climb  to  procure  fruits  and 
honey.  The  headman  of  the  village  is  considered  very 
wealthy,  his  annual  crops  yielding  him  ten  or  twelve 
thousand  paras  (say  four  or  five  thousand  bushels)  of 
paddy  besides  other  grains,  pulses  and  roots. 

Caste ,  position ,  etc .  Though  sometimes  spoken  of 
as  an  inferior  race  by  the  Hindus,  they  are  considered 
to  rank  in  caste  above  all  mechanics  and  artizans. 
They  keep  themselves  off  from  Chogans  or 
Iluvans  for  fear  of  defilement.  The  Chogans  however 
consider  themselves  superior  to  the  Arayans.  The 


556 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  21. 


more  degraded  Mala  Arasirs  of  the  south  are  not 
allowed  by  them  to  be  of  the  same  race.  Their  language 
is  a  corrupt  form  of  Malayalam  with  several  words 
which  are  not  known  on  the  coast.  The  southern  Mala 
Arasirs  speak  Tamil. 

Marriage*  The  marriage  ceremony  of  tht,  Arayans 
is  simple.  The  bridegroom  and  the  bride  sit  together 
and  eat  off  the  same  plantain  leaf,  which  shows  their 
relationship*  After  this,  the  bridegroom  ties  the  /f5li 
round  the  bride’s  neck,  and  a  collection  is  made  for  the 
happy  couple,  which  is  concluded  by  the  bride  taking 
possession  of  any  brass  cooking  vessels  or  gold  orna¬ 
ments  in  the  house  saying  “this  is  my  father’s”,  then 
her  husband  appropriates  them. 

Marriage  takes  place  generally  when  the  woman  is 
17  or  18  years  of  age.  Before  the  ceremony,  the  horos¬ 
copes  of  the  parties  are  examined  and  the  day  fixed  by 
the  KaniySn  or  astrologer,  invitations  arc  issued  and  a 
pandal  erected  and  the  bride  is  placed  seated  inside. 
The  bridegroom  is  then  brought  up  by  his  friends  who 
demand  to  know  who  is  inside.  The  reply  is  such  and 
such  Illakkffr,  as  the  case  may  be.  If  the  reply  is 
satisfactory,  they  enter  and  the  bride  is  brought  and 
placed  in  the  centre.  The  conductor  of  the  ceremonies 
on  the  bride’s  behalf  proclaims  in  a  loud  voice.  “I  am 
to  give  a  woman  of  such  Illam  to  a  man  of  such  Illam”. 
On  the  bridegroom’s  behalf,  a  similar  announcement  is 
made.  A  set  of  new  clothes  is  presented  by  the  bride¬ 
groom  to  the  bride,  and  afterwards  the  happy  pair  sit  to 
eat,  out  of  the  same  vessel  or  leaf.  Then  follows  the 
tali  tying.  * 

The  marriage  tie  is  held  sacred  and  indissoluble. 
Polygamy  is  almost  unknown  and  considered  disgrace¬ 
ful.  Adultery  is  considered  a  great  crime.  Infant 
marriage  is  unknown  among  them,  but  the  Kettu 
KallySijam  has  been  copied  from  the  NSyars  and  liuvas 
of  the  plains  though  differing  in  particulars.  As  soon 
as  a  woman  attains  maturity,  relatives  and  friends 


HILL  TRICES 


557 


S.  N.  ig\ 

are  summoned  to  a  feast.  The  PuSSri  or  the 

\ 

priest  having  fixed  the  propitious  hour,  the  gifrl  is 
brought  in  and  made  to  stand  on  a  plank  of  jack- wood 
(a  tree  considered  sacred  by  the  Arayans),  the  father’s 
sister  then  ties  the  tali  or  thread  round  the  neck,  the 
feast  is  then  partaken  of  and  the  ceremony  is  considered 
complete,  'fhe  prevailing  system  of  inheritance  is 
MakkatJSyam.  There  are  however  three  Arayan  villages 
which  follow  MarumakkatfSyam  said  to  be  forced  on 
them  by  a  local  chief. 

They  are  divided  into  lllams  or  clans.  There  can 
be  no  marriage  between  members  of  the  same  Illam. 
Men  of  a  superior  Illam  may  marry  a  woman  of  an 
inferior  Illam,  but  not  the  other  way,  u  e .,  they  observe 
the  Malaysii  rule  of  Anuloma  and  Pratiloma.  The  chief 
lllams  are  the  PutSni  and  Manda.  Inferior  to  these 
are  the  Walla  etc.,  But  lowest  of  all  are  those  known 
as  the  “Three  Thousand.”  All  the  lllams  eat  together, 
the  objection  is  only  as  to  intermarriage.  Women 
occupy  a  much  better  position  among  the  Arayans  than 
among  the  higher  classes.  They  are  regarded  as  equal 
to'men,  move  about  unrestrictedly  and  eat  with  their 
husbands,  especially  at  feasts. 

Other  ceremonies .  The  birth  of  a  child  renders 
the  mother  impure  for  a  month,  when  she  must  reside 
outside  the  village  and  cannot  cook  or  go  near  springs 
or  enter  the  provision  grounds  or  touch  any  implements 
or  vessels.  She  generally  lives  in  a  hut  on  a  tree.  The 
father  also  is  impure  for  a  week  and  mu^t  not  eat  rice  ; 
but  like  the  mother,  must  live  on  roasted  roots  and 
water. 

A  child,  when  a  month  old,  is  seated  in  the 
father’s  lap  and  fed  with  a  little  sweetened  rice ;  the 
omission  of  Biis  ceremony  implies  it  to  be  illegitimate. 
The  maternal  grand-father  and  other  near  relatives 
repeat  the  ceremony. 

As  a  rule,  the  names  of  individuals  among  the 
Arayans  are  not  Hindu.  They  signify  some  personal 


558 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


|L,  21. 

peculiarity  such  as  Kannan — “the  eyed  one”;  Pottan — 
“the  deaf  one”;  Tatiyan — “the  fat  one”.  For  females, 

Madhura — “the  sweet  one”;  Ponna— “the  gold  one”; 

» 

Chakkara — “the  sugar  one”.  Puranic  names  are  how¬ 
ever  coming  into  use,  specially  among  those  of  them 
who  are  under  the  influence  of  Nsyars. 

Death  ceremonies .  “The  Arayans  bury  their  dead; 
consequently  there  are  many  ancient  tumuli  in  these 
hills,  evidently  graves  of  chiefs,  showing  just  the  same 
fragments  of  pottery,  brass  figures,  iron  weapons,  etc,, 
as  are  found  in  other  similar  places.  These  tumuli 
are  often  surrounded  with  long  splintered  pieces  of 
granite,  from  eight  to  twelve  or  fifteen  in  length,  set 
upon  end,  with  sacrificial  altars  and  other  remains, 
evidently  centuries  old.  Numerous  vaults  too,  called 
Pandi  Kuzhu  are  seen  in  all  these  hills.  They  stand 
north  and  south,  the  circular  opening  being  to  the 
south  ;  a  round  stone  is  fitted  to  this  aperture  with 
another  acting  as  a  long  lever,  to  prevent  its  falling  out; 
the  stones  at  the  sides,  as  also  those  at  the  top  and 
bottom,  are  single  slabs,  l  o  this  day.  the  Arayans  make 
similar  little  cells  of  pieces  of  stone,  the  whole  forming  a 
box  a  few  inches  square;  and  on  the  death  of  a  member 
of  any  family,  the  spirit  is  supposed  to  pass,  as  the 
body  is  being  buried,  into  a  brass  or  silver  image, 
which  is  shut  into  this  vault ;  if  the  parties  are  very 
poor,  an  oblong  smooth  stone  suffices.  A  few  offerings 
of  milk,  rice,  toddy  and  ghee  are  made,  a  torch  lighted 
and  extinguished,  the  figure  placed  inside  the  cell  and 
the  covering  stone  hastily  placed  on ;  then  all  leave. 
On  the  anniversary,  similar  offerings  being  made,  the 
stone  is  lifted  off,  and  again  hastily  closed.  The  spirit 
is  thus  supposed  to  be  enclosed  ;  no  one  ventures  to 
touch  the  cell  at  any  other  time”.1 

The  Rev:  A.  F.  Painter,  discoursing  before  the 
Bombay  Anthropological  Society  on  the  Hill  Arrians 
of  Travancore,  gives  a  long  account  of  the  ceremonies 

l.  Native  Life  in  7'ravancore^  page  74. 


HILL  TRIBES 


559 


S.  N*  19.J 

observed  on  death  which,  he  says,  are  the  most  elabor¬ 
ate  and  important.  Death  brings  defilement  to  the 
members  of  the  family  and  none  may  eat  until  after  the 
funeral.  The  body  is  bathed  and  betel-nut  placed  in 
the  mouth.  A  member  of  the  deceased’s  1 11am  is 
chosen  as  master  of  the  ceremonies.  He  bathes,  wears 
a  strip  of  new  cloth  after  the  fashion  of  the  Brahmani- 
cal  thread,  proceeds  to  the  place  where  the  grave  is  to 
be  dug  and  calls  upon  the  earth  to  give  up  six  feet. 
Advancing  backwards  he  digs  with  a  hoe  and  removes 
three  hoesful  of  earth  after  which  the  grave  is  dug  by 
others.  The  body  is  laid  in  it  with  the  head  always  to 
the  south,  and  earth  is  thrown  in.  He  then  advances 
backwards  and  draws  with  a  knife  three  lines  round  the 
grave,  which  is  supposed  to  protect  it  from  evil  spirits. 
A  cocoanut  is  broken  over  the  grave,  some  paddy 
strewn  on  the  top  and  lights  placed  at  its  head 
and  foot.  The  master  of  the  ceremonies  returns 
to  the  house  round  which  he  walks  three  times, 
with  two  sticks  tied  crossways  with  rags  soked  with 
oil  tied  in  the  ends  and  lighted,  attended  by  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  houses.  The  sticks  are  then  placed  one  at 
the  head  and  the  other  at  the  foot  of  the  grave.  A 
tiny  shed  of  cocoanut  leaves  is  next  made  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  house.  Here  Bali  is  offered  for  the  first 
ten  or  fifteen  days  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
locality.  A  small  quantity  of  unboiled  paddy  is  taken 
and  beaten  carefully,  then  boiled  and  pressed  into  the 
shape  of  a  ball;  a  cocoanut  is  broken  and  these 
together  are  placed  before  the  small  hut;  the  master  of 
the  ceremonies  bending  forward  on  one  knee,  twists  his 
hands  round  each  other  seven  times  and  then  places 
them  beneath  his  knee,  bowing  his  forehead  to  the 
ground.  The  rice  is  then  thrown  at  the  foot  of  a  jack 
tree.  Small  lamps  made  of  leaves  are  lighted  on  four 
sides  of  the  hut.  In  some  places,  on  the  10th  and  11th, 
in  others  on  the  15th  and  16th  days, the  chief  ceremon¬ 
ies  are  performed.  Early  in  the  morning,  the  relatives 
of  the  deceased  having  bathed,  the  master  of  the 


560  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21 

ceremonies,  still  retaining  the  strip  of  cloth  tied  as  a 
sacred  thread,  takes  up  the  small  hut  and  carries  it 
thrice  round  the  house,  then  to  the  grave  where  it  is 
placed.  A  new  cloth  and  (in.some  places)the  dead  man’s 
property— gun,  knife,  topee,  betel-box — are  placed 
upon  the  grave.  A  plantain  leaf  is  cut  up  into  five 
small  pieces,  which  are  placed  opposite  the  hands,  feet 
and  head;  a  little  rice  is  placed  in  each  and  puja  done. 
The  cloth  and  dead-man's  property  are  then  carried 
into  the  house.  There  is  much  divergence  of  practice 
in  this  respect.  In  some  places  only  a  cloth  is  placed 
in  the  grave,  a  white  stone  is  taken  from  the  earth  and 
wrapped  in  it  and  then  conveyed  to  the  house.  ,  In 
others  the  cloth  is  not  taken  back  to  the  house  at  all, 
but  becomes  the  property  o£  the  washerman.  In  all 
places,  after  the  ceremonies  at  the  grave  are  all  overall 
bathe,  a  clean  new  cloth  is  placed  in  an  inner  room  of 
the  house  and  on  it  the  dead  man’s  property,  knife 
topee,  betel-box  etc.,  etc.  A  feast  is  prepared,  plantain 
leaf  is  cut  into  narrow  strips,  rice,  boiled  fowl,  plantain, 
fish,  toddy,  arrack  and  parched  rice  are  placed  upon,  the 
leaves,  lights  are  lighted,  the  master  of  the  ceremonies 
then  does  puja  to  the  spirit  which  is  now  supposed  to 
be  in  the  house.  The  door  is  closed  and  the  spirit  is 
left  to  feast.  After  half  an  hour  it  is  opened  and  the 
things  taken  forth.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  ceremony, 
the  whole  assembly  partake  of  a  feast  consisting  of  fish, 
rice  and  arrack  (the  latter  in  abundance).  The  spirit 
is  then  said  to  have  become  a  Nstfu  IJSvata.  As  soon 
as  possible,  an  image  of  the  deceased  is  prepared,  which 
is  brought  into  the  house.  Similar  offerings  of  those 
mentioned  above  are  offered  before  it,  and  it  is  then 
placed,  among  others,  under  a  tree  in  a  little  niche  of 
laterite.  Twice  a  year  similar  offerings  are  presented 
and  in  times  of  drought,  ravages  by  wild  beasts  or  sick¬ 
ness,  vows  are  made  and  prayers  such  as"  O  Ancestor, 
be  not  angry  withu^”,  are  offered. 

Religion.  The  objects  of  Arayan  worship  are  the 
spirits  of  their  deceased  ancestors  or  local  demons 


S.  N.  19.] 


IIILL  TRIBES 


561 


supposed  to  reside  in  rocks  or  peaks  and  having  influ¬ 
ence  only  over  particular  villages  or  families.  Female 
ancestors  receive  equal  honour  with  males.  The  religious 
services  rendered  to  these  are  intended  to  prevent  or 
avoid  anger  rather  than  to  seek  benefits;  but  in  no  case 
is  lust  to  be  gratified  or  wickedness  practised,  as  pleasing 
to  these  deities.  Each  family  keeps  an  image  of  a  demon¬ 
ized  ancestor  which  is  worshipped  with  great  reverence. 
Lamps  are  kept  burning  to  the  memory  of  their  ances¬ 
tors.  In  cases  of  sickness,  sometimes,  Arayans  make 
offerings  to  Hindu  gods. The  Hindu  deities  worshipped 
are  the  god  Ayyappan  or  Sasta  and  the  goddess  Bhadra 
K5li.  They  go  in  large  numbers  to  the  chief  shrine  of 
the  former  at  Sowri  Mala,  and  even  human  sacrifices  are 
said  to  be  offered  to  the  latter  elsewhere.  They  also  at¬ 
tend  the  great  Hindu  feasts  occasionally;  but  in  no  case 
do  they  believe  that  they  are  under  any  obligation  to  do 
so,  their  own  spirits  being  held  fully  equal  to  the  Hindu 
gods.  These  are  known  as  Malla  Murti  Nsyattu  Pey, 
etc.  Each  village  has  its  priest  who,  when  required, 
calls  on  the  “Hill”  (Mala)  which  means  the  demon 
resident  there  or  the  Pretam,  ghost.  If  he  gets  the 
afflatus,  he  acts  in  the  usual  way,  yelling  and  screeming 
out  the  answers  sought.  They  have  some  sacred  groves, 
where  they  will  not  fire  a  gun  or  speak  about  or 
breathe. 

Of  the  religion  and  worship  of  these  primitive 
people,  the  Rfev.  Richard  Collins  makes  the  following 
interesting  observation:  j  “Cast  upon  the  desolate  wilds 
and  primeval  forests  of  India,  they  seem  long  since  to 
have  lost  almost  every  trace  of  a  Divine  law.  They  do, 
indeed,  acknowledge  a  supreme  spirit,  whom  they  origi¬ 
nally  named  Ko,  or  Kon,  the  King;  but  whatever  the  case 
may  have  been  once,  they  now  offer  him  no  worship. 
While  the  Sanskrit  language  is  rich  in  theological  terms, 
the  aboriginal  language,  of  which  our  Malay alam  is  a 
branch,  contained  or  retained  scarcely  any.  The 
religion  of  these  ancient  tribes  consists  in  the  worship, 

BS. 


562  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  si. 

if  it  can  be  so  called,  of  their  ancestors,  which  is  an 
offering  made  yearly,  on  the  anniversary  of  death, 
before  a  rude  image,  generally  of  bronze  or  brass,  the 
effigy  of  the  ancestors;  and  they  worship  demons 
through  the  intervention  of  a  devil-dancer.  The  man 
who  is  to  perform  this  unenviable  office,  generally  the 
headman  of  the  village,  puts  on  a  brazen  belt  covered 
with  a  number  of  small  bells,  and  hollow  bangles,  with 
pieces  of  copper  inside  to  rattle,  round  his  ankles. 
With  a  staff  in  his  hand,  also  hung  •  with  small  bells, 
and  other  paraphernalia,  the  man  then  begins  to  jump 
and  dance  to  the  increasing  sound  of  tom-toms,  cym* 
bals,  and  like  noisy  affairs,  sometimes  even  lacerating 
his  flesh  till  he  is  apparently  in  a  frenzy,  and  is  thought 
to  be,  perhaps  is,  possessed  by  the  demons;  when  a 
terrific  shout  is  raised  by  the  people,  and  he  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  able  to  give  an  oracular  response  to  any 
question  that  may  be  put  to  him.”1 

Sorcery  and  Witchcraft .  The  Afayans  are  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  great  sorcerers.  They  are  looked  upon  as 
beings  in  alliance  with  some  powerful  demons.  Presents 
are  often  given  them  in  order  to  prevent  their  curses 
producing  ill  effects. 

General  character  and  present  condition .  The 
Arayans  are  a  set  of  independent,  respectable  people  free 
and  somewhat  intelligent  in  their  manners,  more  truth¬ 
ful  and  generally  moral  in  their  habits  than  the  people 
of  the  plains.  “These  mountain* men”  says  Mr,  Mateer 
“were  in  former  times  terribly  fleeced  and  oppressed 
by  their  rulers  and  by  powerful  neighbours.  The 
Sirkar  required  each  individual  to  furnish  a  certain 
quantity  of  wax  and  wild  honey  and  firewood  for  temples 
without  remuneration,  also  to  assist  in  catching 
elephants.  They  were  otherwise  free  even  from  paying 
land-tax.  The  Ksnikar  people,  though  freemen,  paid 
head  money  for  themselves  and  all  males  who  had  died 
within  the  previous  ten  years,  besides  the  usual  land- 

1,  Missionary  Enterprise  in  the  East ,  pages  240—41. 


HILL  TRIBES 


563 


S.  N.  i9  1 

tax  and  ground  rents  and  taxes  on  fruit  trees;  and  were 
besides  fleeced  by  the  local  petty  officers.  The  services 
required  furnished  occasion  for  continual  annoyance 
and  exactions.  The  Arayans  of  Todupuley,  it  is  said, 
are  still  much  oppressed  by  their  Mahammadan  neigh¬ 
bours. 

“The  Puniathu  Rajah  who  ruled  over  those  at 
Mundapalli,  made  them  pay  head-money — two  chakrams 
a  head  monthly  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  work — 
and  a  similar  sum  as  “presence  money”,  besides  certain 
quotas  of  fruit  and  vegetables,  and  feudal  service.  They 
are  also  forced  to  lend  money,  if  they  possessed  any, 
and  to  bring  leaves  and  other  articles  without  any 
pretext  of  paying  them,  and  that  for  days.  The  men 
of  these  villages  were  thus  placed  in  a  worse  condition 
than  the  slaves.  This  petty  Raja  used  to  give  a  silver 
headed  cane  to  the  principal  hill-man  who  was  then 
called  Perumban,  cane  man”.1 

The  condition  of  the  Mala  Arayans  has  been  con¬ 
siderably  improved  by  the  proseletysing  endeavours  of 
Christian  Missionaries.  About  1849,  the  late  Rev. 
Henry  Baker,  Junior,  began  the  work  of  evangelizing 
and  civil  sing  these  interesting  tribes  and  the  good 
work  is  still  kept  up  by  the  Kottayam  Mission  much  to 
their  own  credit  and  to  the  benefit  of  these  wild  men. 

Long  before  the  Protestant  Missionaries  entered 
on  the  task  of  converting  the  Malayars  or  Hill  tribes  to 
Christianity,  the  Portuguese  had  made  a  successful 
attempt  to  bring  them  into  the  fold  of  the  Romish 
Church.  But  their  endeavours .  being  not  sustained, 
their  so-called  converts  soon  relapsed  to  their  old 
beliefs.  In  the  year  1599,  Archbishop  Menezes  sent 
out  a  mission  to  these  Hill  men-  The  mission  started 
on  their  journey  on  the  1 6th  of  July  and  reached  the 
foot  of  the  Ghauts  in  eight  days.  Gouvea  calls  this 
place,  “Carathnarat,  in  the  kingdom  of  Canarate — 
a  territory  little  known  in  Malabar.”  Nieuhoff 

1.  Native  Life  in  Travancorc,  page  7S. 


564  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  12. 

calls  the  place,  “Karatkara,  bordering  on  the 
kingdom  of  Karnata”.  Whitehouse  supposes  this  to 
be  identical  with  Karottukara  (the  higher  land)  a 
name  by  which  the  hills  in  that  part  are  occasionally 
called.  Here  they  met  some  isolated  Christian  settlers 
with  whom  they  stayed  for  ten  days,  after  which  they 
proceeded  on  their  errand,  taking  one  of  the  Christians 
as  their  guide  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain  range. 
They  were  taken  to  a  ‘Malean’  chief  who  is  said  to 
have  had  under  his  jurisdiction  ‘5,000  Malears.’  The 
object  of  the  Mission  was  explained  to  him  by  Simon, 
the  elder  of  the  two  Cattanars  or  native  priests  who 
headed  the  Mission.  The  Malayans  could,  however, 
do  nothing  without  the  previous  sanction  of  their 
Rajas,  the  chiefs  of  Jiruvella  and  Punnat,  to  whom 
they  were  subject.  The  Cattansrs  therefore  simply 
planted  the  cross  and  prepared  to  return  and  report 
the  results  to  the  Archbishop.  The  Malayan  chief 
accompanied  the  Mission  on  their  return  journey  to 
the  foot  of  the  ghauts  and  parted  with  them  at  the 
Church  of  Corolangad  promising  to  repair  thither 
when  the  Archbishop  would  visit  the  place  and  bring 
with  him  the  consent  of  the  Raja  to  whom  he  was  sub¬ 
ject.  On  the  return  of  the  Mission,  Menezes  approached 
the  Rajas  of  Tiruvella  and  PuftnSt  with  handsome  and 
valuable  presents  of  precious  stones  and  obtained  formal 
permission  for  the  baptism  of  the  Head  Malayas  and  his 
followers  being  converted  to  Christianity.  The  Arch¬ 
bishop  then  deputed  the  Syrian  Archdeacon  George 
and  Stephen  de  Brito,  Rector  of  the  Vaipicotta  College, 
and  other  CattanSrs  to  administer  the  initiatory  rite. 
Eight  of  the  chiefs  with  their  families  received  baptism, 
the  first  three  of  them  being  heads  of  district  clans.  Of 
the  latter,  one  called  Collegeira  PaijdSra  was  christened 
Don  Alexis  after  the  Archbishop,  the  second  Canaque 
PandSra,  was  named  Don  Stephen  after  the  Rector  of 
Vaippicofta;  and  the  last  Don  George  after  the  Arch¬ 
deacon.  The  authorities  having  given  their  permis¬ 
sion,  a  Church  was  also  erected  for  them  dedicated  to 


HI'LL  TRIBES 


565 


S,  N.  19.] 

0 

St.  Michael.  Such  was  the  first  Christian  Mission  to 
these  wild  men.  They  seem  to  have  been  afterwards 
neglected  altogether  by  the  Romanists  till  the  Protestant 
Missionaries  took  them  in  hand  almost  three  centuries 
after. 

Other  Hill  tribes  of  Travancore.  The  other 
hill  tribes  of  Travancore  need  not  detain  us  long.  As 
regards  appearance, the  Mutuvans ,  who  claim  superiority 
over  all  the  other  tribes,  are  probably  the  tallest  and 
have  the  best  features  of  all,  with  aquiline  noses,  beards 
and  mustachios.  The  Mannans  have  as  a  rule  little 
hair  on  their  faces,  but  they  are  pleasant  looking,  bright 
and  quick. 

The  Mannans ,  Mutavans ,  and  Uralis  all  say  that 

they  were  originally  dependants  of  the  king  of  Madura 

whence  they  emigrated  into  the  Travancore  hills.  The 

PuftftSt  Raja,  a  Pandyan’  chief,  who  settled  himself 

among  the  hills  is  said  to  have  nominated  three  or  these 

Mannans  as  his  agents  at  three  different  centres  in  his 

dominions.  To  one  he  gave  a  silver  sword  and  called 

him  Varayilkll  Ma$iL5n,  to  the  second  a  bracelet  and 

called  him  Gopura  Maiin^n,  and  to  the  third  a  silVer 

cane  and  called  him  Talamala  Mamjan.  The  Mutavans 

believe  that  they  were  driven  to  the  hills  in  the  latter 

part  of  the  18th  century  by  the  Muhammadan  invaders. 

They  say  that,  on  their  coming  away,  they  carried  on  their 

Muju,  back,  the  goddess  Minakshi  of  Madura,  hence 

their  name  Mutavan,  i.  e .,  those  who  carried  something 

on  their  back.  The  chief  of  the  Mutavan  is  known  as 

» 

Vakha-  The  Ur5lis  according  to  tradition  were  depend¬ 
ants  of  the  King  of  Madura  and  their  duty  was  to  hold 
umbrellas  in  times  of  state  procession.  Their  ancestors 
are  said  to  have  accompanied  the  king  while  on  a  visit 
to  the  hilly  tracts  which  were  then  under  his  sway,  and 
were  left  behind  to  rule,  hence  Urali  (Ur= village  and 
Ali—one  who  rules).  Their  headmen  are  called 
Ka&ikksran.  The  headmen  of  all  these  communities 
exact  a  lot  of  miscellaneous  service  from  those  under 


566  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  si. 

them.  It  is  only  with  their  consent  that  marriages  can 
be  performed.  With  Mahans  marriage  takes  the 
form  of  jsli-tying,  the  jsli  being  removed  on  the  death 
of  the  husband,  while  with  the  Mujavans  the  bride¬ 
groom  only  presents  new  cloths  to  the  bride.  The 
Urslis  dispense  with  this  even.  With  them,  after  the 
marriage  is  settled,  the  girl  is  merely  sent  to  the  pandal 
or  the  hut  of  the  Husband.  There  is  with  the  Mujavans 
the  peculiar  practice  of  carrying  ’  away  the  bride  by 
force  from  her  mother’s  house  after  the  marriage  is 
settled.  She  is  forcibly  taken  away  and  the  couple 
live  by  themselves  in  some  secluded  part  of  the  forest 
for  a  few  days  whence  they  are  either  brough  t  back  or 
return  themselves.  The  Urslis  inter-marry  with  Ulls- 
fans  and  in  rare  cases  with  the  Mu  Javans.  A  MaijjjSn 
always  claims  the  hand  of  his  maternal  uncle’s 
daughter, 

Remarriage  is  permitted  to  the  MaijriSn  and  the 
UrSli.  Widows  of  the  former  class  generally  wait  for 
two  years  before  they  marry  again.  With  all  the  three 
tribes  MarumakkaJJSyam  is  the  prevailing  form  of  in¬ 
heritance  ;  but  a  portion  is  given  to  the  sons  also. 

Dress  and  Ornaments .  The  males  among  the 
Ma$nSns  and  Mutavans  and  the  females  among  the 
former  dress  like  the  Maravans  of  the  plains.  With 
the  Mu  Javan  male,  a  huge  turban  is  indispensible  and, 
before  such  turban  can  be  worn,  the  consent  of  the 
head-man  has  to  be  obtained.  A  Mujavan  female  dress¬ 
es  herself  with  io  or  12  cubits  of  white  or  coloured 
cloth.  The  males  of  the  Urslis  dress  like  the  low 
country  people  with  cloths  about  4  cubits  long  extend¬ 
ing  from  the  hip  to  the  knee.  Another  cloth,  about 
one  or  two  cubits  in  length,  is  put  over  their  back,  one 
end  of  which  passes  under  their  right  arm  and  another 
over  the  shoulder,  both  meeting  in  front,  over  the  chest 
where  they  are  tied  together  in  a  peculiar  knot  by  fold¬ 
ing  the  extremities,  thus  forming  a  bag  wherein  to 
contain  their  way-side  necessaries.  Females  wear  two 


HILL  TRIBES 


S.  N.  19.] 


567 


pieces  of  cloth  nine  and  two  and  a  half  cubits  in  length 
respectively  and  folded  in  the  middle-  ‘The  larger  or 
lower  garment  and  the  smaller  or  upper  garment  is 
worn  with  the  two  ends  tied  round  their  neck  with  a 
brass  or  iron  zone  for  the  waist.  In  addition  to  this, 
Mujava  females  have  bracelet  for  the  upper  arm  called 
Mutakku .  Both  Mutava  and  Urgli  females  have  ear 
and  nose  ornaments.  Those  of  the  former  are  mostly 
of  brass  while  the  ear  ornaments  of  the  latter  known 
as  Kattumani  are  rings  of  metalic  wire  four  or  five  in 
number.  The  Maijngns  wear  ear  rings  of  silver  and 
brass  while  the  UrSli  adorns  his  fingers  and  toes  with 
rings  of  silver.  The  latter  deck  themselves  in  wreaths 
of  coloured  leads  from  15  to  30  in  number.  He  allows 
his  hair  to  grow,  shaving  the  face  alone. 

Habitation ,  Food  and  Language .  The  MannSns  put 
up  the  best  huts  among  all  the  hill  tribes.  These  hill 
men  subsist  mostly  on  roots,  fruits,  and  other  forest 
produce  as  also  on  game,  but  the  Urglis,  being  cultiva¬ 
tors  of  forest  land,  eat  rice  for  6  months  of  the  year.  But 
a  large  portion  of  the  paddy  goes  to  the  low  country  in 
exchange  for  clothing  and  salt.  The  Mannans  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  monkey  but  not  that  of  the  fox,  crocodile, 
snake,  buffalo  or  cow.  The  Urglis  eat  the  flesh  of  most 
animals;  but  the  elephant  and  buffalo  are  held  in  such 
great  respect  that  no  Urgli  will  even  venture  to  hurt 
them.  Even  the  approach  of  the  buffalo  is  religiously 
avoided.  The  Uralis  speak  a  kind  of  corrupt  Malaya- 
lam  while  the  language  of  the  Manngns  is  Tamil  and 
that  of  Mujavans  has  no  connection  with  Malayalam 
but  is  a  corruption  of  Tamil  having  a  peculiar  intona¬ 
tion. 

Occupation •  The  Mahans  really  cultivate  any 
thing  but  ragi.  They  are  employed  by  the  Sirkar  to 
collect  honey,  in  which  they  are  experts,  cardamoms,  and 
keep  watch,  etc.  The  Mufavans  cultivate  some  land  and 
to  pay  no  taxes  to  Government,  but  have  to  serve  the 
Sirkar  when  called  on,  at  favourable  rates  of  wages,  in 


568  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L,  21, 

gathering  forest  produce.  The  Uralis  occupy  them¬ 
selves  in  migratory  cultivation  in  a  rude  way,  using 
only  a  Kafti,  a  kind  of  chopping  knife,  for  purposes  of 
ploughing.  They  make  excellent  mats  of  reeds. 
They  hoard  their  grains  in  wicker  baskets  called 
Virivallams .  They  are  clever  huntsmen  and  are 
passionately  attached  to  their  hunting  dogs.  They 
possess  copper  and  brass  vessels,  mortar,  chopping 
knives,  axes,  sickles,  spades,  flint  and  steel. 

Ceremonial  Pollution .  Both  the  Mutavan  and  the 
Urali  observe  pollution  of  a  very  aggravated  kind  during 
the  menstural  and  pureperal  periods.  With  the 
Mahans  it  is  not  so  repelling.  At  both  periods  the 
woman  is  lodged  in  a  separate  Matam  or  hut  at  a 
distance  from  the  main  one  where  she  has  to  stay  for 
three  days.  After  bathing  on  the  fourth  day,  she  shifts 
to  another  Matam,  nearer  and  stays  there  for  one  or  two 
days.  On  the  seventh  day  she  rejoins  the  family.  In 
cases  of  confinement,  12  days  are  spent  in  the  remotest 
hut  and  5  days  in  the  nearer  one.  But,  for  a  period  of 
another  20  days,  she  is  not  permitted  to  touch  any  one 
in  the  house  or  even  the  roofing  of  the  hut.  During 
these  days,  food  is  prepared  by  others  and  given  her. 
The  tvater  in  which  those  who  are  confined  and  those 
who  are  in  their  menses  bathe  is  considered  to  be 
defiled  beyond  remedy.  Hence,  for  bathing  purposes, 
some  secluded  and  out  of  the  way  pool  called  Pattuvellam 
is  selected.  Uralis  coming  to  the  low  country  hesitate 
to  drink  water  on  suspicion  that  it  might  be  thus  pol¬ 
luted.  When  the  woman  delivers  herself  of  her  first 
child,  her  husband  observes  three  days  pollution  but 
more  for  subsequent  confinement. 

Death  and  BuriaL — The  Mannans  bury  their  dead 
in  a  coffin  made  of  bamboo  and  reeds  and  the  corpse 
is  taken  to  the  grave  with  music  and  beating  of  drums. 
The  personal,  ornaments,  if  any,  are  not  removed. 
Before  covering  the  grave  a  quantity  of  rice  is  put  into 
the  mouth  of  the  deceased.  A  shed  is  erected  over  the 


HILL  TRIBES 


50  9 


S.  NT.  io.] 

site  of  the  burial.  After  a  year  is  past,  an  offering  of 
food  and  drink  is  made  to  the  dead.  The  Uraiis  also 
bury  their  dead,  but  not  in  a  coffin.  Each  relative  has 
to  put  a  cloth  into  the  grave.  After  covering  the  grave, 
they  erect  a  shed  over  it  like  the  MannSns  and  place 
within  it  the  chopping  knife  of  the  deceased,  a  quantity 
of  boiled  rice  and  some  betel  and  nuts.  After  the 
lapse  of  7  years,  an  offering  of  food  and  drink  is  made 
to  the  departed  soul.  Death  pollution  lasts  for  16  days. 

Religion .  Sorcery .  All  the  three  tribes  are  demon 
worshippers  and  dabblewnuch  in  sorcery  and  witch¬ 
craft.  The  would-be  sorcerers  of  the  Uraiis  have  to 
leave  the  community  and  wander  over  the  forests  alone 
for  a  number  of  months  to  enable  their  -masters  to  ini¬ 
tiate  them  in  the  mystic  art.  While  so  wandering, 
they  are  said  to  go  into  a  trance  when  their  ancestors 
appear  before  them  as  maidens  and  initiate  them.  The 

Uraiis  as  well  as  the  MannSns  have  more  faith  in  en- 

♦  » 

chantments  called  Cheppuka  and  Chattuka  for  the  cure 
of  diseases  than  in  medicine,  though  the  MajnnSns  have 
the  reputation  to  stand  ahead  of  all  other  hillmen  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  latter.  The  principal  deities 
worshipped  by  the  Mutavans  are  Chantiattu  Bhaga- 
vati  and  Neriamangalam  Sasta.  The  MannSn  wor¬ 
ships  the  Sasta  of  Sabarimala  and  Periyar. 

Location .  The  Mannans  inhabit  the  Cardamom 

•  • 

Hills  and  their  number  is  1,172-  The  Mutavans  num¬ 
ber  808  souls  and  are  to  be  found  in  the  Cardamom 
PI  ills  and  the  Taluks  of  MuvvStflfiipuIa  and  Totupula. 
Only  220  Mala  Uraiis  have  been  returned  for  the  State 
at  the  last  Census  and  they  reside  in  the  Totupula 
Taluk. 

There  are  a  few  other  hill  tribes  of  Travancore 
who  may  be  named  here:  Mala  Pulayans,  Hill  Pan- 
tarams  and  Katar.  The  Mala  Pulayans  are  a  hunting 
class  who  are  not  far  removed  from  the  Uraiis  and 
speak  Tamil.  The  PI  ill  Pantarams  go  about,  almost 
naked,  without  implements  or  huts,  living  in  the  holes, 

BT. 


570 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  21. 

rocks  or  trees.  They  collect  honey,  wax,  ivory  and 
other  forest  produce  and  exchange  them  for  salt,  to¬ 
bacco,  etc.,  with  the  Arayans.  They  dig  roots,  snare 
the  ibex  and  jungle  fowls,  eat  rats  and  snakes  and  even 
crocodiles  found  in  the  pools  amongst  the  hill  streams. 
They  are  filthy  to  a  great  extent.  They  speak  a  sort 
of  corrupt  Malayalam.  All  those  jungle  tribes  have 
generally  the  same  rules  and  notions  respecting  women, 
property,  demonology,  etc.,  as  the  Arayans. 

The  Mala  Atiyars •  .  The  Mala  Atiyars  are  an 
interesting  tribe  inhabiting  the  Lower  Periyar  Valley. 
The  term  Mala  Atiyar  means  “Mountain  slaves’*  (ati= 
foot)  and  they  resemble  the  Urdis  in  many  respects  such 
as  stature,  physique,  colour,  facial  contour,  dress, 
habits,  language,  customs  and  manners. 

• Appearance ,  Dress  and  Ornaments.  Mr.  Sawyer, 
late  of  the  Travancore  Forest  Department,  describes 
them  as-  of  middle  height,  fairly  thickset,  dark  brown 
in  colour,  with  brownish-to-black  eyes,  curly  hair,  flat 
noses,  protruding  upper  lips,  receding  foreheads  and 
chins,  prominent  cheek  bones  and  generally  smooth 
faces.  Both  men  and  women. wear  the  hair  long,  either 
loose  or  knotted  on  the  top  of  the  head.  The  men 
ordinarily,  wear  a  loin-cloth  reaching  down  to  the  knees, 
Avhile  another,  thrown  over  the  body^is  passed  over  the 
right  shoulder  and  under  the  left  arm,  the  ends  being 
tied  into  a  knot  over  the  chest.  The  women  wear  a 
single  cloth,  the  upper  end  of  which  is  passed  under  the 
arms  and  covers  the  bosom.  The  lower  end  reaches 
above  the  knee.  The  men  wear  finger  and  toe 
rings  also  ear-rings  of  iron  or  brass,  and  frequently  as 
many  as  six  pairs  are  worn  in  the  same  ear-hole.  The 
earlobes  of  the  women  are  artificially  distended  and 
discs  of  the  soft  white  wood  or  flattened  rolls  of  lead 
are  worn.  Several  wreaths  of  glass  beads  of  many 
colours  are  worn  round  the  neck.  They  have  also 
finger  and  toe  rings,  and  round  their  waists  they  wear 
zones  of  iron  and  brass. 


S.  N.  19]  HILL  TRIBES  571 

Habits .  Their  habits  are  extremely  filthy.  They 
seldom  bathe,  and  their  dark  skins  are  frequently  coat¬ 
ed  over  with  an  ashen  incrustation  of  dirt  and  mud. 
From  want  of  due  attention  to  the  hair,  it  turns  a  red- 
dish-yellow  in  colour,  particularly  at  the  far  ends  and 
is  sometimes  matted.  , Their  cloths  are  invariably 
dirty  and  emit  an  offensive  odour. 

Occupation .  The  chief  occupations  of  the  tribe 
are  shifting  cultivation,  hunting  with  dogs  and  fishing. 
Besides  living  upon  the  indigenous  wild  yams,  roots 
and  fruits,  and  the  smaller  animals  of  the  forest,  such  as 
the  Iguana  lizard,  tortoise,  arm-adillo,  hedghog,  etc., 
they  cultivate  in  small  patches  all  the  commoner  crops 
raised  in  the  low  country.  A  portion  of  the  produce 
is  bartered  in  the  plains  in  exchange  for  salt,  cloths, 
knives,  tobacco,  arrack,  bhang  and  opium.  They  are 
adicted  to  drinking.  Some  of  them  smoke  bhang,  but 
the  majority  of  the  men,  as  well  as  a  large  number  of  the 
elderly  women  are  slaves  to  opium  eating.  They  how¬ 
ever  keep  within  bounds. 

Amusements .  The  Mala  Atiyans  like  the  Ural  is 
are  fond  of  singing  and  dancing.  On  special  occa¬ 
sions,  both  men  and  women  dance  round  a  bonfire  to 
the  accompaniment  of  loud  chanting,  tom-toming,  the 
dapping  of  hands  and  dry  tamboo  slips  and  the  jingling 
of  tiny  brass  bells  tied  on  to  the  arms  and  legs.  When 
dancing  they  put  on  their  cleanest  cloths.  Girdles  of 
sambir  or  deer-skin  wdth  the  hair  on,  are  worn  over 
the  waists  from  which  their  ends  descend  as  down 
as  the  knees.  Cloths  are  sometimes  tied  over  the  Head 
or  folded  and  thrown  over  the  shoulders.  In  the  latter 
case,  the  ends  are  held  in  the  hands  while  dancing. 

The  language  of  the  Mala  Atiyar  is  Malayalam, 
which  is  however  spoken  with  a  quaint  Tamil  intona¬ 
tion.  They  live  in  meagre  huts  situated  in  the  dense 
and  ever  green  wilds  they  have  selected  for  their  dreary 
abode* 


572  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L:  21. 

Marriage .  Their  marriage  ceremony  is  very 
simple  with  no  trace  of  any  religious  element  in 
it.  The  betrothal  is  made  when  the  girl  is  3  or  4  and 
the  boy  8  or  10  years  old.  A  maternal  uncle’s  son  is 
the  most  eligible  match  for  a  girl.  The  betrothal  con¬ 
sists  in  the  mothers  of  the  girl  receiving  a  string 
of  red  glass  bead  from  the  bridegroom  and  tying  it 
round  the  neck  of  her  daughter.  This  corresponds  to 
the  Kettu  Rally anam  of  the  Nayars.  A  loin  cloth  js 
at  the  same  time  accepted  and  worn  by  the  girl.  The 
real  marriage  takes  place  on  the  girl  attaining  matur¬ 
ity  when  an  auspicious  day  is  selected  on  which  the 
members  of  the  tribe  assemble  in  a  pandal  at  the  bride’s 
house.  The  mother  of  the  bridegroom  stands  up  in 
the  assembly  and  declares  her  willingness  to  take  care 
of  the  bride  as  if  she  were  her  own  child.  The  bride¬ 
groom,  in  his  turn,  then  stands  up  and  declares  that, 
in  sickness  or  health,  sunshine  or  storm,  in  plenty  or 
famine,  he  would  support  hi's  bride,  as  best  he  could 
then,  and  ever  after.  The  bride,  who  sometimes  has 
as  many  as  ten  companions  or  bride’s  maids,  then 
promises,  in  return,  for  the  assurances  already  received, 
that,  so  long  as  her  husband  lives,  she  will  not  hold 
the  hand  of  another  man.  This  is  the  ceremony, 
pure  and  simple,  yet  solemn  enough  without  any  incan¬ 
tations  or  prayers.  A  feast  follows  and  the  next  day  the 
bride  is  taken  to  the  bridegroom’s  house,  her  parents  and 
other  relatives  accompanying  her.  The  party  is  accom¬ 
modated  in  a  pandal  erected  for  the  occasion.  Here  an¬ 
other  feast  is  given  by  the  bridegroom.  Singing  and  dan¬ 
cing  follow  and  are  kept  up  till  morning.  The  bride,  it 
is  interesting  to  note,  does  not  speak  to  the  bridegroom 
for  two  or  three  days;  if  necessary,  she  communicates 
with  him  through  his  or  her  mother  or  other  elderly 
female  of  the  family.  Both  bride  and  bridegroom  are  well 
dressed  -and  the  bride’s  hair  is  ornamented  with  .wild 
flowers,  chiefly  jasmine-  Such  is  the  simple,  yet  solemn 
marriage  ceremony  of  these  wild  unsophisticated  men, 
a  life-long  union  is  effected  without  the  interference  of 


HILL  TRIBES 


573 


S.  N,  19.] 

any  priest  and  without  having  recourse  to  manirams * 
bell  ringings,  honicuns  and  prayers.  The  civilised 
Marumakkattayam  Malayalees  of  the  plains  who  are 
on  the  look-out  for  a  simple  form  of  marriage  need  not 
at  all  be  ashamed  to  take  a  lesson  from  these  ‘barbari¬ 
ans’.  Widow  marriage  is  allowed  and  polygamy  is 
seldom  practised.  If  a  man  commits  adultery,  he  has  to 
compensate  the  woman  and  her  relatives  with  presents 
of  money  and  grain— a  severe  drain  on  their  scanty 
resources,  and  therefore  a  heavy  punishment  for  the 
offence.  If  a  woman  be  guilty  of  the  offence, 
she  is  discarded  by  the  tribe;  she  may,  however,  be 
received  back  into  ‘her  father’s  house,  where  she  re¬ 
mains  until  remarried  by  a  man  of  a  kindred  tribe  or 
clan,  for  no  one  of  her  own  tribe  or  clan  will  marry  her 
again.  The  Mala  Atiyars  follow  the  Marumakkattayam 
system  of  inheritance. 

Observances  at  birth.  The  observances  attending 
birth  are  like  those  of  the  Uraiis,  with  the  main  differ¬ 
ence  that,  when  the  woman  is  advanced  in  pregnancy, 
she  is  taken  to  her  father’s  hut  and  the  delivery  takes 
place  there.  The  husband  leaves  the  woman  there, 
giving  her  all  necessaries  and  returns  home.  On  being 
apprised  of  the  birth  of  the  child  he  goes  with  a  supply 
of  provisions  and  things,  some  of  which  are  presented 
to  the  midwife-  The  same  practices  with  regard  to 
pollution,  uncleanliness,  living  in  separate  huts,  bath, 
etc.,  as  among  Uraiis  prevail  among  the  Mala  Atiyars 
also.  The  child  is  named  on  the  fourth  day  after  birth, 
the  name  being  announced  by  its  maternal  grand¬ 
mother  in  the  presence  of  the  assembled  tribesmen. 
The  names  commonly  in  use  for  men  are  Kunfiu  Kota 
Kaniden,  Moli  Kannan  Raman,  and  Velayudhan.  Of 
these  only  the  last  two  names  are  Hindu  and  Puranic. 
The  names  of  females  are  Kochi,  Kaychi,  Pankachi, 
Ku rumba,  Kali,  Kotamma,  Kunnama,  and  Mali,  all 
Dravidian  names. 

Illness — Death .  All  illness  is  attributed  to  the 
influence  of  the  spirits  of  ancestors,  so  that  when  one 


574  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

falls  ill,  it  is  the  exercisor  whose  aid  is  sought,  and 
not  that  of  the  physician.  He  practises  his  art,  goes 
through  many  tedious  gesticulations,  croonings  and 
incantations  and  the  whole  proceedings  are  enlivened 
by  tom-tom  beating  and  other  noisy  accompaniments. 
In  bad  cases  the  manes  are  propitiated  by  the  sacrifice 
of  fowls. 

When  a  man  dies,  the  calamity  is  attributed  to  the 
anger  of  the  manes  or  of  a  malignant  spirit  who  is 
forthwith  propitiated  with  sacrifices.  No  member  of 
the  family  partakes  of  food  for  24  hours  succeeding 
the  funeral.  The  body  is  enshrouded  in  a  new  cloth 
and  is  rolled  up  in  the  mat  on  which  the  person  died. 
It  is  carried  to  the  grave  on  a  rude  bier  improvised  of 
reeds  and  sticks.  An  elder,  often  not  a  relative  of  the 
deceased,  is  selected  by  the  bereaved  family  as  the 
celebrant  of  the  funeral  obsequies.  The  funeral  cortege 
ordinarily  consists  of  ten  men,  not  counting  the 
celebrant;  oniy  these  eleven  men  are  permitted  to 
go  to  the  burial  ground.  The  grave  is  large  and  deep, 
its  bottom  and  sides  are  neatly^  paved  with  cross-sticks 
and  split  bamboos  and  two  new  cloths  are  spread 
over  the  former.  The  body,  bier  and  all,  is  lowered  into 
it  and  the  whole  covered  with  two  more  new  cloths. 
Before  internment,  however,  that  portion  of  the  shroud, 
covering  the  face  of  the  dead,  is  tenderly  and  carefully 
torn  out  and  kept  by  the  celebrant.  The  bier  is  then 
once  more  covered  and  fastened.  The  funeral  party 
now  arrange  themselves,  five  on  each  side  of  the  grave, 
and  sit  down  near  its  margin  with  their  backs  towards 
it  and  their  faces  away  from  it.  The  body  is  laid  with 
the  head  to  the  east.  Directly  above  it,  the  celebrant 
sits,  with  reverently-bowed  head  and  clasped  hands, 
and  while  he  utters  incantations  to  the  spirit  of  the 
dead,  the  earth  is  slowly  thrown  in  by  the  silent  tearful 
party  of  ten.  Hands  alone  are  used  throughout  the 
tedious  function  and,  when  the  grave  is  completely 
filled  in,  the  party  turns  round,  and  facing  it,  finishes 


HILL  TRIBES 


C75 


S.  N*  io.] 

by  packing  the  earth  over  it  in  a  compact  mound. 
Three  stones  are  then  placed  over  the  grave,  one  at 
each  end  and  the  third  in  the  middle.  An  Ttfta  reed, 
about  6  feet  long,  is  now  stuck  firmly  over  the  grave; 
the  party  once  more  arrange  themselves  on  both  sides 
of  it  and  successively  placing  their  upturned  hands  one 
above  the  other  in  such  a  manner  that  the  reed  passes 
between  each  one's  fingers,  sway  up  and  down  four 
times.  The  reed  is  then  taken  up  by  the  celebrant  and 
thurst  into  the  mound  over  the  grave  obliquely  from 
end  to  end.  A  handful  of  paddy  is,  thereafter,  scattered 
over  the  grave.  A  frond  of  the  rattam  palm,  with 
leaves  (pinnoe)  and  spines  on,  is  then  laid  across  the 
head  of  the  grave  and  the  silent  party,  aftjer  slowly 
walking  round  the  grave  four  times  step  over  it,  and 
without  once  looking  back,  return  to  the  hut  of  the 
deceased.  On  the  way,  however,  and  when  well  out  of 
sight  of  the  grave,  they  enter  a  stream,  bathe,  collect 
seven  leaves  of  the  wild  arrow-root  plant.  These  are 
taken  and  carefully  placed  in  the  caves  of  the  hut  in 
which  the  person  died.  On  arriving  at  the  hut,  the 
members  of  the  deceased’s  family  who  will  have  bathed 
and  swept  out  the  hut  and  premises,  sprinkle  the 
funeral  party  with  cow-dung  water.  The  celebrant, 
then  entering  the  hut  of  the  deceased,  procures  a  new 
mat  which  he  spreads  in  it.  Over  the  middle  of  this 
mat,  the  piece  of  cloth  that  formed  part  of  the  torn 
shroud  is  neatly  folded  and  laid  lengthwise.  A  cocoa- 
nut  shell  containing  cold  water  is  placed  over  the  cloth 
at  one  end  of  it.  The  celebrant  then  sits  beside  the 
mat,  and  dipping  the  knuckles  of  the  little  finger  of  his 
left  hand  into  the  water,  touches  the  cloth  with  it. 
After  this,  he  touches  the  shell  with  the  fingers  of  the 
one  hand  and  the  end  of  the  cloth  with  those  of  the  other 
and  gently  approximates  both  palms  until  they  meet 
before  his  chest  in  an  attitude  of  devout  and  reverential 
adoration.  This  is  repeated  three  times.  Early  the  next 
morning,  the  funeral  party  of  ten,  accompanied  by  the 
celebrant,  go  to  the  nearest  stream,  cook  a  handful  of 


576  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.  21. 

rice,  and,  after  bathing,  stand  side  by  side  in  a  line 
facing  east.  Each  one  then  crosses  his  hands  with  the 
palms  downwards  in  such  a  manner  that  the  right  hand 
is  uppermost.  On  the  back  of  the  latter,  a  little  of  the 
hot  broth  from  the  boiling  rice,  with  a  grain  of  salt,  is 
placed  by  the  celebrant.  Each  of  the  party  then  raises 
his  still  crossed  hand  to  his  lips  and  licking  up  the  salt 
spits  out  before  him.  The  cooked  rice  itself  is  taken 
and  placed  over  a  leaf  near  the  water  in  the  stream 
and  the  party  returns  to  the  hut.  Late  in  the  evening 
of  the  same  day,  boiled  rice  is  served  on  one  of  the  seven 
arrow-root  leaves  placed  over  the  mat  in  the  hut  of 
the  deceased,  and,  after  the  bereaved  family  mourns 
over  it,  a  little  child,  boy  or  girl,  is  asked  to  eat  it.  The 
child  readily  obeys,  and  for  the  succeeding  six  evenings, 
the  ceremony  is  repeated.  On  the  eighth  day,  a  feast 
is  given,  the  shell  and  water  are  thrown  away,  and  the 
strip  'of  cloth  torn  into  shreds,  is  twisted  into  a  cord 
and  worn  by  the  =ehild  around  its  neck  for  one  year. 
This  strange  practice  is  ail  the  more  interesting  when 
it  is  remembered  that  the  child, like  the  celebrant  elder, 
is  frequently  no  relative  or  connection  of  the  deceased. 
The  mat  on  which  the  ceremony  is  performed  may  be 
used  by  any  member  of  the  family,  but  it  is  usually  given 
to  the-child.  On  the  anniversary  of  the  death,  the  male 
and  female  members  of  the  deceased's  family,  shave  a 
narrow  ring  of  hair  right  round  their  heads*  and  bathe. 
The  celebrant  is  presented  with  grain  and  provisions  to 
the  value  of  a  rupee,  a  feast  is  given  to  the  assembled 
tribesmen,  and  the  mourning  is  considered  at  an  end.  1 

Religion*  The  Mala  Atiyqrs  are  ancestor  and 
spirit  worshippers.  They  however  adore  the  Hindu 
divinities  S^sta  and  Bhagavati  both  of  whom  are 
Dravidian  deities  rather  than  Aryan.  They  also  adore 
the  stone  at  Athirapilly  under  the  name  of  Ckerthavu 
(probably  SastSvu).  They  have  sacred  groves;  and 
even  individual  trees  and  rocks  are  looked  upon  with 

1.  Malabar  Quarterly  Review ^  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  256. 


HILL  TRIBES 


577 


S,  N,  19.I 

sentiments  of  awe  and  reverence.  Evil  spirits  are 
dreaded  and  propitiated  with  sacrifice  and  incantations 
more  than  good  ones. 

General  condition •  It  need  scarcely  be  added  that 
the  general  condition  of  these  primitive  people  is  very 
low.  Living  in  the  recesses  of  forests,  hidden  from  the 
sight  of  civilization,  they  are  impervious  to  all  ideas  of 
improvement,  yet  not  having  come  in  contact  with  the 
cunning  and  chicane  of  the  low  country,  they  are  an 
honest  lot,  trying  to  eke  out  an  existence  in  their  own 
humble  way.  Any  attempt  to  ameliorate  their  condi¬ 
tion  is  highly  necessary.  The  Christian  Missionary 
has  yet  not  reached  them,  and  the  Hindus  of  the  plains 
rarely  meet  them  as  they  live  far  away  in  the  hills. 

Malayar  and  Katar. 

Designation  and  appearance .  Amongst  the  hill 
tribes  that  inhabit  the  Cochin  forests  is  a  class 
called  Malayar  and  another '  called  Kstar.  The 
terms  '  Malayar  and  Kstar  mean  “hill  men”  and 
“jungle  men*”  Except  that  they  live  in  different  locali¬ 
ties  in  the  Cochin  forests,  there  is  little  or  no  difference 
between  them.  The  Malayar  are  perhaps  fairer  in 
colour,  thinner  and  less  muscular,  and  more  civilized  in 
appearance  than  the  Katar  who  are  dark,  short  and 
muscular  with  pointed  thick  lips  and  curly  hair  and  less 
civilized  in  appearance.  Both  of  them  have  great 
power  of  endurance. 

Habitation .  They  live  in  groups  of  8  to  20  huts, 
forming  a  village  situated  on  the  banks  of  a  stream,  or 
in  an  open  glade  in  a  dense  forest  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
a  water  supply.  These  villages  are  called  Patis.  The 
huts  are  made  of  bamboos,  strong  saplings  and  reeds, 
and  thatched  with  teaks,  date  or  reed  leaves  and  leafy 
twigs  and  branches.  The  doors  form  sliding  panels  of 
bamboo  work.  A  part  of  the  floor  inside  is  raised  for 
them  to  sleep  on.  In  some  places,  these  huts  are  built 
on  clumps  of  bamboos  upon  which  a  platform  is  first  put 

BU. 


578  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

up  and  the  huts  built  on  them.  Entrance  is  afforded 
by  means  of  a  ladder  made  by  cutting  away  the  knots 
from  a  single  bamboo  outside  the  clump  and  leaving  the 
root  ends  to  serve  as  steps  to  ascend.  Very  often  huts 
are  constructed  on  trees  as  a  means  of  security  against 
the  depradations  of  wild  beasts.  Their  domestic  uten¬ 
sils  are  of  the  simplest  description;  excepting  a  few 
earthen  pots  for  cooking,  all  the  rest  is  made  of  bamboo 
such  as  mats,  vessels  for  holding  water  etc.  They  are 
very  ingenious  in  adapting  things  found  round  them  in 
the  forests  for  their  domestic  purposes.  They  make 
fire  by  striking  a  piece  of  fiint  with  a  piece  of  steel; 
the  sparks  fall  on  a  kind  of  pith  which  is  like  cotton. 

Village  organisation .  Every  village  has  a  Moopen 
or  headman  who  is  elected  by  the  villagers  from  among 
themselves.  Sometimes  the  Mlipen  derives  his  autho¬ 
rity  from  the  Raja,  specially  where  the  villages  are 
situated  in  the  Sirkar  forests.  The  Mupen  is  in  such 
cases  given  a  rod  of  office,  tipped  with  silver  at  one 
end.  Otherwise,  the  office  is  hereditary  and  descends 
from  maternal  uncle  to  nephew.  He  has  considerable 
authority  which,  if  properly  exercised,  are  unlimited. 
If  he  abuses  it,  he  is  displaced  by  the  villagers, 
and  another  elected.  He  has  many  privileges  and 
perquisites.  He  presides  at  marriages,  funerals 
and  other  ceremonies.  He  decides  tribal  altercations 
and  family  disputes  and  quarrels.  His  consent 
has  to  be  obtained  before  anything  out  of  the 
ordinary  groove  can  be  done.  The  Mupen’s  wife 
is  known  as  Muppatti  and  her  position,  specially  in 
thedfee  of  Katars,  among  women,  corresponds  to  that 
of  her  husband  among  men.  The  Malayars  are  said  to 
be  divided  into  certain  clans  which  derive  their  desig¬ 
nation  either  from  the  place-names  of  the  localities  they 
inhabit  or  from  the  personal  names  of  some  among 
them  who  have  distinguished  themselves  in  former 
times  or  from  their  occupations.  The  names  of  the 
clans  are 


HILL  TRIBES 


579 


N.  S.  ig  1 

(i)  Katattukkar ;  (2)  Tonikar ;  (3)  Pokenkar  ; 

(4)  Eransttukar  ;  (5)  Ayambakar  ;  (6)  Nellakkar  ; 

(7)  Chskkenkar  ;  (8)  Kutenkar  ;  (9)  Kunnikar. 

The  Malayar  are  also  divided  into  two  sub¬ 
tribes  : — 

(1)  The  Kongu  (Tamil)  Malayar  and  (2)  the 
Nattu  (Native)  Malayar. 

The  former  are  emigrants  from  the  forests  of  the 
Coimbatore  District.  While  Mr.  Anantha  Krishna 
Aiyar,  the  Cochin  Ethnographic  Surveyor,  tells  us  that 
“these  two  sub-tribes  widely  differ  in  their  customs 
and  manners”,  Mr.  K.  Govinda  Menon  of  the  Cochin 
Forest  department  assures  us,  and  he  must  know 
better,  in  a  very  interesting  account  of  the  hill  tribes 
of  Cochin  given' by  him  in  the  Malabar  Quarterly  Re - 
view,  that  “their  religious  and  social  observances,  their 
customs  and  manners  are  all  alike,  except  their  form  of 
mariage  which  is  rather  unique  among  the  Kongu 
Malayars.”1 

Language*  The  Kongu  Malayars  speak  Tamil 
while  the  rest  of  the  tribe  as  well  as  the  Katar  speak  a 
mixture  of  slang  Malayalam  and  Tamil.  The  Kstar’s 
language  contains  more  Tamil  words.  All  speak  with 
a  peculiar  intonation  and  their  pronounciation  is 
curious. 

Dress  and  ornaments .  The  dress  of  both  male  and 
female  members  of  the  tribes  is  very  simple.  Males 
simply  tie  a  piece  of  cloth  round  their  loins  while  the 
females  have  one  hanging  from  their  chests  to  the 
knees.  The  Katar  of  the  Nelliampathies  are  now 
better  dressed  in  dhoties,  coats,  petticoats  etc. 
This  is  due  to  their  being  employed  by  Euro¬ 
pean  coffee  planters  who  have  extended  their  enter¬ 
prise  to  these  hills.  The  hair  of  the  females,  like  that 
of  the  males,  is  wavy  and  is  combed,  oiled  and  neatly 
parted  and  tied  behind  with  a  comb  stuck  into  it.  It 
is. said  that  the  comb  is  not  added  to  beautify  but  to  be 

1.  Vol.  s»  p.  295. 


580  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  2i. 

utilised  in  combing  their  hair  when  out  in  the  jungles 
where  they  frequently  stay  for  days  and  days  together. 
The  males  wear  ear-rings  of  brass.  The  females  wear 
discs  thrust  into  their  ears  the  lobes  of  which  are  artifi¬ 
cially  distended.  Round  the  neck  they  wear  necklaces 
of  brass  and  glass  beads.  Some  wear  brass  nose  rings 
and  brass  and  bell-metal  bangles  and  toe  rings.  There 
is  an  interesting  custom  observed  by  the  Katar  that  is 
not  found  with  other  classes,  the  chipping  of  all  or 
some  of  the  incisor  teeth, both  upper  and  lower, into  the 
form  of  sharp  pointed,  but  not  serrated  cones.  The 
operation  is  performed  with  a  chisel  or  bill  hook  and 
file  by  the  members  of  the  tribe  skilled  thereat,  on  boys 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  and  girls  at  the  age  of  ten  or 
thereabouts.  The  girl  to  be  operated  upon  lies  down 
and  places  her  head  against  a  female  friend  who  holds 
the  head  firmly.  A  third  woman  takes  a  sharpened 
bill  hook  and  chips  away  the  teeth  till  they  are  shaded 
to  a  point,  the  girl  operated  on,  writhing  and  groaning 
with  the  pain.  After  the  operation,  she  looks  dazed  and, 
in  a  few  hours,  the  face  begins  to  swell.  Swelling  and 
pain  last  for  a  day  or  two  accompanied  by  severe  head¬ 
ache.-  The  custom  of  deforming  the  teeth  is  not  con¬ 
fined  to  Southern  India,  but  is  found  prevailing  among 
different  tribes  in  Africa  and  Australia,  where  the 
practice  is  in  general  confined  to  the  chipping  of  the 
incisor  teeth.1 

Occupation .  The  chief  occupation  of  .these  tribes 
consists  in  gathering  minor  forest  produce,  such  as 
honey,  wax,  dammer,  ginger  etc.  The  Sirkar  employs 
them  in  this  and  in  other  works  such  as  catching 
elephants  and  the  like.  They  also  work  for  the  contrac¬ 
tors  of  the  low  country  who,  in  exchange  for  the  honey 
etc.  they  supply,  give  them  rice,  tobacco,  sundry 
provisions,  cloth,  opium,  etc.  They  also  do  cooly  work, 
while  Some  have  turned  to  agriculture.  They  are  good 
trackers  and  huntsmen.  They  follow  a  wounded  animal 

i.  Ethnographical  Survey  of  the  Cochin  State ,  Monograph 
A?.  6%  KadarSi  pp,  14—15, 


HILL  TRIBES 


581 


S.  N.  19.] 

with  wonderful  agility  and  find  it  out  even  from  the 
densest  recesses  of  the  forest.  They  trace  as  if  by 
instinct  the  devious  paths  of  the  forest  and  decide  with 
almost  unerring  certainty  on  the  number  and  variety  of 
animals  that  may  have  traversed  them.  They  know 
the  animal  by  their  foot  prints  and  find  out  their  where¬ 
abouts,  probably  by  the  peculiar  and  wonderful  develop¬ 
ment  of  their  olfactory  nerves.  They  hunt  tigers, 
bison  and  bears.  Deer  and  wild  hogs  are  caught  in 
snares.  During  the  summer  months,  they  dam  up 
mountain  streams,  poison  the  water  and  take  the  dead 
fish.  The  Katars  are  peculiarly  expert  in  climbing 
trees  of  great  height.  Honey  gathering  is  a  favourite 
occupation  with  them.  They  approach  the  honey  combs 
on  the  top  of  the  trees  during  the  night,  carring  torches 
with  them  to  burn  the  bees.  This  they  easily  do,  but 
their  greatest  feat  consists  in  gathering  the  honey  of 
the  rock  bee  which  requires  considerable  daring  and 
courage.  The  process  is  thus  described  by  Mr.  Anan- 
tha  Krishna  Iyer:  “The  honey  of  the  rock-bee 
(Malsnten)  is  of  a  superior  quality.  It  is  a  large  bee 
that  builds  its  large  nest  in  the  cavities  of  rocks  and  on 
the  edges  of  appalling  precipices.  It  is  a  most  fearful 
adversary,  so  much  so  that  the  native  bee-collectors 
dare  not  attack  it  in  the  day  time.  If  their  nest  is 
attacked  by  an  intruder,  the  bees  begin  a  united, persist¬ 
ent  attack  and,  as  their  sting  is  severe,  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  escape  from  the  attack;  it  is  most  danger¬ 
ous  to  go  near  them.  The  natives  take  the  combs  at 
night  ,and  the  mode  of  procedure  evinces  a  cool  daring 
which  one  would  never  expect  even  in  such  a  daring  race. 
At  sunset  the  Kadar  performs  puja  to  his  sylvan  deity. 
He  makes  a  chain  of  rings  of  rattan  or  bamboo  ladder, 
and  this  chain,  over  100  feet  in  length,  is  lowered  from 
the  top  of  the  precipice  until  it  reaches  a  point  where 
the  bee’s  nests  are.  This  being  done,  a  dark  windy 
night  is  chosen,  and  the  honey  hunter,  either  alone  or 
accompanied  by  his  wife,  brother  or  son  and,  in  the 
pitch  of  darkness,  descends  this  loosely  hanging  ladder 


582  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

with  a  fire  brand,  and  chasing  away  the  bees  by  means 
of  his  torch  he  collects  the  honey  and  thus  secures  the 
prize.  To  look  at  one  of  these  ladders  as  it  hangs  over 
the  face  of  some  fearful  cliff  and  to  imagine  the  scene  is 
to  make  one’s  flesh  creep.  For  the  horrible  feast  of 
daring  he  feels  amply  rewarded  if  a  rupee  is  given. 
The.,  bees  appear  to  be  sluggishly  stupid  on  dark  nights 
and  hence  the  rationale  of  this  method  of  procedure.” 

Those  who  work  for  the  landlords-  as  also  those 
working  for  the  forest  department  are  given  Oriam 
presents  in  the  shape  of  rice,  cloths,  caps,  coats,  turban, 
ear  rings,  tobacco,  opium,  salt  oil,  cocoanuts  etc.  A 
large  number  of  Katars  now  work  as  maistries  and 
coolies  under  coffee  planters. 

Food  and  Drink .  These  tribes  live  mostly  on  wild 
yams,  roots  and  fruits  of  the  forests.  Rice  is  a  luxury 
with  the  Katars  and  the  occasions  on  which  they  go  in 
for  it  are  very  few.  They  rarely  indulge  in  animal 
food.  They  however  eat  fish.  They  have  a  mortal 
aversion  to  the  flesh  of  the  bison.  The  Malayars  live 
on  rice  so  long  as  they  could  find  the  means  of  getting 
it  in  exchange-  for  forest  produce  from  the  low  country 
traders  and  contractors.  I11  the  morning  before  setting 
out  for  the  day’s  work, the  Malayar  takes  Kanji  (gruel) 
prepared  from  the  chama,  Kora  and  Kambu.  Their 
evening  meal  is  the  same  accompanied  with  curries 
made  of  roots,  yams  etc.  “Sometimes  they  make  a 
delicious  preparation  out  of  bamboo  seeds.  They  fill  a 
hollow  bamboo,  two  feet  in  length  and  four  or  five 
inches  in  diameter,  with  the  seed  above  referred  to,  and 
fill  it  with  honey  and  then  close  the  mouth  of  the  bam¬ 
boo  air-tight.  This  is  then  coated  with  a  layer  of  earth 
and  placed  in  a  bright  red  hot  fire,  allowing  sufficient 
time  for  the  grain  to  be  well  boiled  in  honey.  The 
bamboo  splits,  when  quite  red  hot,  and  in  the  inside  is 
seen  a  cylindrical  soft  and  sweet  mass,  which  forms 

/.  Ethnographical  Survey  of  the  Cochin  Slate ,  Monograph 
l\ot  Kadarsy  pp,  11  and  12, 


HILL  TRIBES 


583 


S.  N.  19.] 

their  dainty  meal  with  which  they  welcome  high  caste- 
men,  who  happen  to  stay  in  their  midst  for  a  night.  This 
they  consume  with  a  deep  draught  of  water.  They  eat 
the  remains  of  carcase  left  by  tigers,  as  also  the  flesh  of 
deer,  bison  and  goat  but  abstain  from  touching  the 
flesh  of  the  cow,  wolf,  elephant  and  tiger. 

Menses — Marriage .  Marriage  takes  place  before 
and  after  puberty,  but  generally  after.  The  match  is 
arranged  by  the  parents  of  the  parties  assisted  by  the 
Mupen.  The  period  of  pollution  caused  by  the  ap. 
pearance  of  the  menses  for  the  first  time  is  7  days  with 
Malayars  and  10  with  Kstars.  During  this  period 
they  have  to  live  in  a  separate  hut  and  can  join  the 
family  only  after  the  ceremonial  bath  is  over  at  the  end 
of  the  period.  The  day  is  one  of  festivity  to  which 
castemeii  are  invited.  The  Katar  women  observe  pol¬ 
lution  to  a  greater  extent  than  the  Malayar;  during 
their  monthly  periods,  they  are  kept  apart  in  a  separate 
hut  and  no  one  is  permitted  to  approach  them  within  a 
certain  distance.  Like  the  Mala  Atiyars,  their  idea  of 
this  species  of  impurity  is  so  strong  that  they  would 
not  touch  or  take  water  from  a  reservoir  or  a  stream  in 
which  a  woman  in  her  periods  has  bathed.  Their  mar¬ 
riage  ceremony  is  simple  enough.  When  the  match 
has  been  arranged  between  the  parents  of  the  couple 
the  boy’s  father  gives  a  dinner  to  all  his  relations,  as 
also  two  fanams  to- the  girl  for  a  new  dress  and  one 
fanam  (4  as.  7  ps.)  worth  of  spirituous  liquor  to  the 
guests.  The  girl  is  then  delivered  over  to  the  boy  and  this 
constitutes  a  valid  marriage  among  the  Kongu  Malayars. 
In  some  cases  a  wedding  garment  is  given  t!o  the  bride 
and  a  string  dyed  yellow  to  which  a  brass  ring  is 
attached  is  tied  round  her  neck.  Amono  Nattu  Mala- 
yars  marriage  is  effected  by  a  somewhat  similar  obser¬ 
vance.  The  bridegroom’s  party  gees  to  the  bride’s 
house  where  the  guests  are  entertained.  The  wedding 

7.  Ethnographical  Survey  of  the  Cochin  State ,  Monograph 
A o,  p,  Malay er s,  p:  2 o. 


584  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  ax, 

garment  is  given  to  the  bride  and  the  party  leaves. 
Two  or  three  weeks  after  this,  the  bride’s  party  returns 
the  visit  and  is  in  turn  entertained  after  which  the 
girl  is  handed  over  to  the  boy.  The  Katars  observe 
the  rule  of  exogamy  and  a  man  is  not  permitted  to 
marry  a  girl  related  to  him  on  the  male  side.  As  a 
rule  marriages  between  persons  descended  in  a  direct 
line  from  the  same  parents  is  forbidden.  No  bride 
price  is  paid  but  presents  of  cloths  are  given  to  the 
bride’s  relatives.  There  is  no  formal  ceremony  per¬ 
formed  for  the  wedding.  On  the  day  appointed,  the 
bridegroom  goes  to  the  hut  of  the  bride  escorted  by 
friends  and  relatives  who  are  given  a  cordial  welcome 
and  seated  on  mats.  The  couple  stand  face  to  face  in 
a  decorated  pandal  in  front  of  the  hut.  Men  and  wo¬ 
men  keep  dancing,  separately,  to  the  music  of  pipe  and 
drum.  The  bridegroom’s  mother  ties  the  t2li  of  gold 
or  silver  round  the  bride’s  neck  and  her  father  places 
a  turban  on  the  head  of  the  boy.  The  little  fingers  of 
the  right  hands  of  the  contracting  parties  are  linked 
together  as  a  token  of  their  union  and  they  walk  in 
procession  round  the  pandal.  Then  sitting  on  a  mat 
of  Katar  manufacture,  they  exchange  betel.  Another 
custom  is  for  the  person  desirous  of  marrying  to  seek 
a  wife  in  another  village  where  he  dwells  for  a  whole 
year.  When  he  has  found  a  suitable  match,  he  returns 
to  his  village  gives  her  a  dowry  and  ties  the  tali  round 
the  neck  of  the  bride.  After  the  usual  feast,  the  couple 
proceed  to  the  husband’s  hut  where  his  friends  and 
relations  are  treated  to  a  feast.  After  a  few  weeks,  a 
new  hut  is  erected  where  they  reside  and  maintain 
themselves.  With  the  Malayars  as  well  as  the  Katars 
the  fali  is  cut  and  cast  off  on  the  death  of  the  husband 
or  on  the  severance  of  the  connection  between  the  two. 
Widow  marriages  are  allowed.  Divorce  is  resorted  to 
only  when  the  charge  of  prostitution  is  laid  at  the  door 
of  the  woman  who  is  at  once  sent  back  to  her  parents. 
A  divorced  female  is  never  remarried  by  a  member 
ot  the  village  to  which  the  husband  belonged  and  rarely 


HILL  TRIBES 


585 


S.  N.  19] 

by  any  member  of  the  tribe.  The  poor  wretch  is 
shunned  by  all  except  her  parents  to  whose  lot  it  falls 
to  maintain  her.  Invariably  such  females  are  carried 
away  and  kept  by  low  caste  people  from  the  plains. 
Polygamy  is  sanctioned  by  society  but  is  seldom  practis¬ 
ed.  Polyandry  is  never  heard  of  and  is  regarded  with  the 
greatest  contempt.  Prostitution  is  never  tolerated  and 
the  female  in  such  cases  is  obstracised.  Sexual  license 
prior  to  marriage  is  looked  upon  with  the  greatest  con¬ 
tempt  and  the  parties  concerned  therein  are  outcasted. 
The  Katar  girls  are  described  as  “modest  and  child¬ 
like  in  their  behaviour  and  when  married  they  make 
good  wives  and  become  models  of  constancy.”  The 
women  are  said  “to  be  treated  with  affection  and  res¬ 
pect  and  enjoy  a  certain  amount  of  freedom.  They 
tend  children,  cook  the  family  meals*  bring  water  from 
the  spring  or  stream  close  by  and  sometimes  accom¬ 
pany  their  husbands  for  same  out-door  work  and  keep 
the  hut  in  order. 

Birth .  Though  Mr.  Ananthakrishna  Ayyar  says 
that  these  tribes  do  not  perform  any  ceremony  in  con¬ 
nection  wdth  pregnancy,  we  read  in  Mr.  Govinda 
Menon’s  account  that  “the  tribes  observe  the  usual 
Puli-kuti  ceremony  during  the  course  of  the  month 
when  a  small  feast  is  given  to  the  relatives  of  *  the 
husband  and  wife.”  The  muppen  presides  at  it  and 
receives  a  present  for  his  trouble.  A  separate  hut  is 
put  up  for  delivery  and  the  young  mother  is  attended 
by  an  old  woman  during  confinement,  generally  her 
mother.  The  lying-in-woman  bathes  on  the  third  and 
the  7th  day.  With  the  Malayar,  pollution  lasts  for  a 
month.  The  Katars  think  that  for  three  months  after 
birth  the  woman  is  unclean.  For  2  or  3  weeks  after 
birth,  in  the  morning  and  evening,  the  Katar  woman 
takes  a  decoction  of  anise,  ginger,  pepper,  mustard, 
calamus  and  a§afoetida  which  are  all  well  fried  and 
boiled  in  water.  The  naming  of  the  child  generally 
takes  place  in  the  third  month,  among  the  Malayars, 


BV. 


5SG  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  2r. 

and  the  6th  month  among  the  Katars.  The  Malayan 
parents  sit  side  by  side*  after  bathing  and  putting  on 
new  garments,  and  one  of  them  holds  the  child  on  a  rice 
pan.  A  member  of  the  caste  who  acts  the  part  of 
Pujari  goes  into  a  trance  and  gives  out  in  hysterical 
tone  a  name,  and  this  is  borne  by  the  child  henceforward. 
The  Katar  father  simply  calls  the  child  by  a  name. 
The  names  in  common  use  among  Kstars  are: — 

For  males'.  Velanti,  Kunchi;  Kitta,  Pilia,  Chel- 
amban,  Chontan,  Alakku  Pilia  and  Moyali  Muppan. 

For  females'.  KaruppSyi,  R^msyi,  PonnSyi,  Nelli, 
Kafambi,  and  Vellayammal. 

Names  in  common  use  among  the  Konga  Malayars 
are:  — 

Lor  males'.  (1)  Malian  Muppan,  (2)  Kafuppan 
Muppan, (3)  Tamman,  (4)  Chatayan,  (5)  Velii,  (6)  FitlTri 
(7)  Karumala  Muppan. 

Lor  females'.  (1)  Ksii,  (2)  Arasi,  (3)  Malli, 
(4)  Kathi,  (5)  Mayal,  (6)  Chettichi,  (7)  Nayitti. 

The  ears  and,  if  a  girl,  the  nose  as  well  of  the 
child  are  bored  through,  usually  on  the  date  of  naming. 

Inheritance .  The  Konga  Malayars  and  the  Katars 
follow  the  MakkattSyam,  while  the  Nattu  Malayars  fol¬ 
low  the  MarumakkattSyam  law  of  inheritance. 

Death .  The  Malayars  and  Kstars  both  bury 
their  dead.  There  is  very  little  ceremony  attending 
the  burial.  When  a  Malayar  dies,  his  son  or  nephew 
procures  some'  toddy.  Those  present  drink  it  and 
dance  round  in  honour  of  the  -deceased.  The  body  is 
taken  on  a  bamboo  bier.  It  is  placed  on  the  grave 
which  is  filled  in  with  earth  and  stone.  They  observe 
pollution  for  3  days  and,  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth, 
friends  and  relatives  are  invited  to  a  feast  at  which 

H  ' 

toddy  is  freely  used.  The  N3ttu  Malayars  observe 
pollution  for  16  days.  The  Katars  wash  the  body 
before  burial-  After  the  usual  wailing,  a  funeral  dance 
is  performed.  The  body  is  covered  with  a  neat  cloth 
and  carried  to  its  resting  place  on  a  bamboo  bier-  As 


s.  N.  19.] 


HILL  TRIBES 


587 


it  leaves  the  hut,  rice  is  thrown  over  it.  The  corpse  is 
laid  in  the  grave  with  the  head  to  the  east.  Pollution 
is  observed  for  10  days-  On  the  nth  day,  they  take  a 
plunge-bath  and  invite  friends  and  relatives  to  a  feast. 
We  learn  from  Mr.  Govinda  Menon  that  the  ceremony 
of  SrSddha  is  very  rigidly  observed  by  these  tribes  It 
is  reckoned  by  the  first  new  moon  of  the  month  in 
which  death  took  place.  SrSddha  is  performed  only 
by  the  eldest  son  of  the  deceased  and,  in  the  absence  of 
a  son,  by  the  brother  or  nephew- 

Religion .  The  Malayars  and  Kstars  are  animists 
and  are  generally  being  absorbed  into  Hinduism,  i.  e., 
Brahmanism.  They  now  worship  deities  borrowed 
from  the  lower  classes  on  the  plains,  such  as  Kali, 
Ayyappan,  etc.  The  Malayars  of  the  Chittur  forests 
worship  the  following  demons: 

(1)  Karumala  Muppan,  (2)  MallampSra  Aijtan, 
(3)  Nayitti  Altai,  Manakkantamma,  (5)  Paliyamma 
(6)  Kali.  ** 

Those  of  the  Kollenkode  forest  worship  Bhagavap, 
Nagaswami,  Muniyappan,  Karumala,  Vettakkaran, 
Malian  and  Bhadra  Kali,  The  stones  and  images 
worshipped  are  regarded  not  simply  as  symbols  but  as 
deities  themselves  capable  of  giving  health  and  pros¬ 
perity  to  man.  They  believe  in  the  existence  of 
spirits  with  power  to  work  good  or  evil.  Their  princi¬ 
pal  objects  of  adoration  are  a  few  wild  animals,  ances- 
tors,  and  a  demon  called  Malavali,  i.  e.,  “he  who  lives 
on  the  mountain”.  The  blessing  of  ancestors  is  in¬ 
voked  on  all  occasions  and  undertakings*  Ancestors 
occupy  among  the  tribes  the  same  position  as  that 
given  by  Hindus  to  Ga^apap.  Offerings  of  boiled  and 
beaten  rice,  fowls,  and  arrack  are  given  to  ancestors 
and  deities  to  invoke  their  blessing.  The  Muppen 
generally  acts  as  priest. 

The  following  extract  from  the  Imperial  Census 
Report  will  give  .us  some  idea  of  the  religion  of  the 
Kajars  and  how  they  are  approximating  towards 


588  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

Brahmanism.  “Special  interest  attaches  to  the  religion 
of  the  Kadars  as  representing  a  comparatively  early  stage 
in  the  process  of  conversion  to  Brahmanism  which  the 
aboriginal  races  of  Bengal  are  undergoing.  The  real 
working  religion  of  the  caste  is  pure  animism  of  the 
type  which  still  survives,  comparatively  untouched  by 
Hindu  influences  among  the  Santals,  Mundas  and 
Orans  of  Chota  Nagpur.  Like  these,  Kadars  believe 
themselves  to  be  encompassed  about  by  a  host  of  in¬ 
visible  powers,  some  of  whom  are  thought  to  be  the 
ancestors,  while  others  seem  to  embody  nothing  more 
definite  than  the  vague  sense  of  the  mysterious  uncanny 
with  which  the  hills,  streams  and  the  lonely  forests 
inspire  the  savage  imagination.  Of  these  shadowy 
forms,  no  images  are  made,  nor  are  they  conceived 
of  as  wearing  any  bodily  shape,  A  roughly  moulded 
lump  of  clay  in  an  open  glade,  a  queer  shaped  stone 
bedaubed  with  vermillion  which  is  all  the  visible  pre¬ 
sentiment  that  does  duty  for  all.  Their  names  are  legion 
and  their  attributes  are  barely  known.  But  so  much 
is  certain  that  to  neglect  their  worship  brings  disaster 
to  the  offender,  death  or  disorder  to  the  household, 
murrian  among  the  cattle  and  blight  on  his  crops.  In 
order  to  avert  these  ills,  but  so  far  as  I  can  gather  with¬ 
out  the  hope  of  any  benefit  from  Gods  who  are  active 
only  to  do  evil,  the  Kadar  sacrifices  pigs,  fowls,  goats 
and  pigeons  and  offers  ghee,  molasses  and  heads  of 
Indian  corn  in  the  sacred  groves  in  which  his  deities 
are  supposed  to  dwell.  The  priest  is  a  man  of  the 
caste  who  combines  the  sacred  functions  with  those  of 
the  barber  to  the  Kadars  of  the  villages  of  the  neigh¬ 
bourhood.  The  offerings  are  eaten  by  the  worshippers. 
For  all  this,  the  Kadars,  if  questioned  about  their  re¬ 
ligion,  will  reply  that  they  are  Hindus  and  will  talk 
vaguely  about  their  Hindu  gods  (Parameswar,  Vishnu), 
as  if  they  live  in  the  very  odour  of  orthodoxy  instead  of 
being  in  fact  they  are  wholly  outside  the  sphere  of  the 
Brahmanical  system.  To  talk  about  the  Hindu  gods 
is  usually  the  first  step  towards  that  insensible  adoption 


HILL  TRICES 


S.  N.  19] 


583 


of  the  externals  of  Hinduism  which  takes  the  place  of 
formal  and  open  conversion  which  sterner  and  less 
adaptive  creeds  demand.  The  next  step  is  to  set  up 
Brahmans  whose  influence  furthered  by  a  variety  of 
social  forces  gradually  disposes  the  tribal  gods  and 
transforms  them  into  orthodox  shapes  and  gives  them 
places  in  the  regular  pantheon  as  local  manifestations 
of  this  or  that  well  known  principle  and  relegates  them 
to  a  decent  and  offensive  obscurity  as  household  or 
village  deities.  Last  of  all  if  the  tribe  is  an  influential 
one  it  gives  itself  brevet  rank  as  the  Rajaputs”. 

Caste  position .  The  Malayar  and  the  Kstar,  each 
affirms  his  own  superiority  over  the  other  in  social  posi¬ 
tion.  The  one  regards  the  touch  of  the  other  as  pol¬ 
luting.  Among  the  Malayars,  the  Nattu  Malayars 
possess  a  social  superiority  over  the  Konga  Malayars 
who  are  not  allowed  to  approach  them  within  a  certain 
distance.  Malayars  would  not  eat  at  the  hands  of  the 
Kstars,  Eravallers,  Pulayars  and  Parayars.  The  Katar 
will  eat  at  the  hands  of  all  castes  except  the  Malayar, 
Parayar,  Pulayar,  and  Uilatar. 

The  hill  tribes  are  to  a  great  extent  under  the 
protection  and  control  of  the  Forest  Department.  They 
are  bound  to  serve  it  on  nominal  wages  whenever  and 
wherever  they  are  called  on  to  do  so.  In  return  they 
are  granted  lands  for  cultivation  free  of  tax,  presents 
for  the  Oriam  festival,  and  bamboos,  branch  wood,  etc., 
free  for  constructing  their  huts  and  similar  gifts  and 
concessions  which  are  never  allowed  to  the  low  country 
people. 

Occasionally,  disputes  and  quarrels  among  them, 
when  not  settled  by  themselves,  are  mediated  upon  by 
the  Forest  Department  and  amicably  settled. 

The  Eravallers .  The  Eravallers  who  live  in  the 
Chittur  forests  are.  a  hill  tribe  of  inoffensive  men, 
known  also  by  the  name  of  Villuvetan  (hu.nters  using 
the  bow).  They  are  an  extremely  poor  class  depend¬ 
ent  altogether  on  the  landlords  under  whom  they 


590  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

work  for  very  low  wages.  They  live  in  huts  similar  to 
those  of  the  Malayars  and  Katars  in  Pathies  or 
villages.  “Both  men  and  women  are  decently  clad  and 
the  latter  are  shy  of  strangers.  •  Males  wear  Veshties , 
one  end  of  which  hangs  loose  and  the  other  is  tucked 
in  between  the  legs.  They  have  a  shoulder  cloth 
either  hanging  loosely  over  their  shoulders  or  some¬ 
times  tied  to  the  turbans.  They  allow  their  hair  to 
grow  like  women,  but  do  not,  for  want  of  means,  anoint 
it  with  oil.  They  grow  mustaches.  They  wear  round 
the  neck  a  necklace  of  small  white  beads  to  distinguish 
them  from  Malayars,  who  are  always  afraid  of  them. 
Some  bear  brass  finger  rings.  Women  wear  a  potava , 
a  coloured  cloth,  8  yards  in  length,  half,  of  which  is 
Worn  round  the  loins,  while  the  other  half  serves  to 
cover  the  body.  The  hair  is  not  smoothened  with  oil. 
It  is  twisted  into  a  knot  on  the  back  It  is  said  that 
they  take  oil  bath  once  a  week.  Their  ear  ornament 
is  made  of  a  long  palmyra  leaf  rolled  into  a  disc  and 
the  ear  lobes  are  sufficiently  diliated  to  contain  them. 

Food  and  drink.  Their  food  ordinarily  consists  of 
Chsma  in  the  form  of  Kanji  (gruel)  with  salt,  tamarind 
and  chillies  added.  They  do  not  eat  from  the  hands 
of  Maij$2ns,  Parians,  Parayans,  and  Cher umans. 

Occupation .  Their  occupation  is  chiefly  agricul¬ 
ture.  They  also  employ  themselves  in  gardening, 
fencing,  thatching,  etc.  As  they  know  the  forests  well 
enough  they  are  employed  by  sportsmen  to  beat  game. 
They  themselves  are  good  bow  men.  Ten  or  fifteen  of 
them  form  a  party  and  are  armed  with  knives,  bows 
and  arrows.  Some  of  them  beat  up  and  corner  the 
game  when  they  are  caught  in  a  net  or  are  shot  with 
arrows  or  beaten  to  death.  Animals  hunted  generally 
are  hogs,  porcupines  hares  and  such  other  small 
game.  They  skilfully  aim  at  birds  and  kill  them  while 
flying. 

Marriage  etc ♦  Marriage  takes  place  only  when 
ie  husband  is  in  a  position  to  work  and  maintain  his 


HILL  TRIBES 


591 


S.  N.  19.] 

wife,  a  lesson  which  the  early  marrying  civilized  Hindu 
may  well  learn*  A  girl  may  be  married  before  puberty; 
but  then  she  lives  with  her  parents  till  she  comes  of 
age.  Menstural  pollution  is  very  rigidly  observed. 
The  girl  is  lodged  in  a  separate  hut  at  some  distance 
and  only  girls  of  her  age  are  allowed  to  go  near  her. 
Food  is  served  at  a  distance  and  all  grown-up  members 
of  the  family  keep  away  from  her.  This  seclusion 
continues  for  7  days.  She  bathes  on  the  morning  of  the 
7th  and  is  then  allowed  ingress  to  her  hut.  The  7th 
day  after  the  1st  menses  is  observed  as  a  day  of  festivity 
towards  which  her  husband  has  to  contribute,  if  she 
is  already  married.  Subsequent  menstural  period  are 
for  3  days  and  the  ceremonial  bath  takes  place  on  the 
fourth  day.  Marriage  is  arranged  by  the  parents.  When 
the  day  is  fixed,  the  parents  of  the  couple'  wait  on  their 
land-lords  with  a  present  of  betel,  nut  and  tobacco  and 
inform  them  of  the  proposed  interesting  event.  He 
generally  gives  a  para  of  paddy  towards  the  marriage 
expenses.  The  wedding  takes  place  on  a  Monday. 
On  a  Monday  previous  to  the  marriage,  the  sister  of  the 
bridegroom  visits  the  parents  of  the  bride  accompanied 
by  friends  and  relatives,  and  presents  them  with  the 
bride’s  price  which  is  never  more  than  a  rupee.  Along 
with  it  a  brass  ring  is  also  given  for  the  bride.  On 
the  Monday  selected  for  the  wedding,  a  similar  party 
proceeds  to  the  bride’s  house  and  decks  her  in  new 
clothing.  They  get  a  dinner  there,  after  which  they 
turn  homewards  with  the  bride.  An  entertainment  is 
g-iven  at  the  bridegroom’s  house  also  on  the  bride 
coming  there.  On  the  Monday  after  this,  the  bride¬ 
groom  and  bride  are  taken  to  the  bride’s  hut  where 
they  slay  for  a  week  and  then  return  to  the  bride¬ 
groom’s  hut.  There  is  no  tali  tying  and  no  presents  are 
given  to  the  bridegroom  at  the  time.  But  on  the 
Karkataka  Samkranti  following  (about  the  15th  or  16th 
of  July),  the  father-i  n-law  invites  him  and  gives  him 
two  Veshpes  or  long  pieces  of  cloth  after  sumptuously 
feeding  him.  Widow  marriage  is  permitted  but  a 


592 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  21* 


widow  can  marry  only  a  widower.  When  the  parties 
have  children  by  the  first  marriage,  the  widower 
bridegroom  must  solemnly  promise  in  the  presence  of 
the  castemen  that  he  would  treat  them  and  the  issue  he 
may  have,  alike  and  impartially.  The  marriage  is 
effected  by  the  presentation  of  a  brass  ring  and  a  cloth, 
but  not  with  much  ceremony.  Divorce  is  allowed,  the 
divorced  woman  can  however  marry  only  a  widower. 
Such  cases  are  very  rare  among  them.  Both  poly¬ 
gamy  and  polyandry  are  absolutely  unknown  in  the 
community.  Should  a  woman  cohabit  with  a  man 
before  marriage  and  become  pregnant,  she  used,  in 
former  times,  to  be  put  to  death,  but  is  now  turned 
out  of  caste.  Such  instances  too  are  very  rare.  The 
Eravallers  follow  MakkattSyam. 


Pregnancy .  No  ceremonies  take  place  during  preg¬ 
nancy  except  exorcism  if  the  woman  is  suspected  to 
be  possessed  by  a  demon.  On  delivery  she  is  located  in 
a  separate  hut  where  she  is  attended  by  her  mother  or 
some  old  woman.  Soon  after  delivery  both  mother 
and  child  are  bathed.  She  has  pollution  for  7  days.  On 
the  7U1  day  she  bnthes  and  is  removed  to  another  hut 
closer  to  the  main  one.  Here  she  stays  for-  a  period 
of  5  months.  She  returns  to  the  main  hut  after  having 
her  ceremonial  bath.  That  day  is  one  of  festivity. 
During  convalesence  she  is  strictly  forbidden  from 
taking  meat  and  a  medicine  consisting  of  a  mixture  of 
pepper,  dried  ginger  and  palm  sugar  mixed  with  toddy 
is  given  her. 

The  naming  of  the  child  comes  on  two  years  after 
birth.  The  male  child  receives  his  grandfather’s  and 
the  female  her  grandmother’s  name.  The  names  in 
common  use  are: — for  males ,  Kannan,  Otukan, 
Kothandan,  Kecharan  and  Attukaran;  for  females , 
Kanni,  Keypi,  Kaikeyi,  Otuka  and  RsmSyi. 


Death .  They  bury  their  dead  and  observe 
pollution  for  5  days.  On  the  6th  day,  the  son  or  the 
younger  brother  of  the  deceased,  as  the  case  may  be, 


HILL  TRIBES 


593 


«> .  N.  19.] 

who  is  the  chief  mourner  gets  shaved,  bathes,  and 
offers  to  the  spirit  of  the  departed  boiled  rice,  plantain^, 
fowl,  and  parched  rice.  A  feast  is  also  giver  to 
castemen,  which  is  repeated  annually  if  they  can  afford 
to  do  so. 

Religion .  The)  are  pure  ani mists  and  centre 
their  belief  mostly  on  demons  who  are  said  to  reside  on- 
the  trees,  rocks  or  peaks  with  which  the  mountains 
abound.  The  demons  are  worshipped  with  a  view  to 
appease  their  supposed  anger  towards  these  simple 
people.  Their  gods,  male  and  female,  are  Kaii,  Muni, 
Kannimar  and  Karuppu.  The  first  is  a  female  deity 
who  is  worshipped  to  obtain  protection  for  themselves 
and  their  families;  the  second  for  the  protection  of  their 
cattle  and  for  having  a  good  harvest,  and  the  third  (who 
a;e  said  to  be  seven  maidens)  because  they  are  their 
family  deities  always  watching  over  their  welfare. 
Offerings  of  beaten  rice,  boiled  rice,  plantains,  etc., 
are  given  to  propitiate  them.  Kali  and  Muni  are 
worshipped  in  the  forest,  and  the  rest  in  their  huts. 

General  condition .  The  general  condition  of  these 
hill  tribes  is  very  low,  notwithstanding  that  a  great 
number  of  the  Nelliampathi  Katars  have  for  some 
years  enlisted  themselves  under  the  coffee  planters  as 
Maistries  and  coolies,  and  that  the  Malayars  have 
recently  turned  to  agriculture  and  farming.  They  are 
bound  to  serve  the  Forest  Department  on  mere  nomi¬ 
nal  wages  whenever  and  wherever  they  are  called  on 
to  do  so.  In  return,  they  are  allowed  to  cultivate 
patches  of  forest  land  tax-free.  They  are  also  given 
bamboos  and  branchwood,  etc.,  for  constructing  their 
huts,  while  similar  gifts  and  concessions  are  denied  to 
the  low  country  people.  They  have  to  do  a  miscel¬ 
laneous  assortment  of  work,  hard  enough,  which  they 
do  most  willingly  though  not  sufficiently  remunerated. 
'They  have  to  lead  the  Sirkar  officials  through  the 
forests  when  on  duty,  to  attend  to  the  elephant 
capturing  operations,  such  as  to  cover  the  pits,  to  see 

BW, 


504  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

whether  elephants  have  fallen  into  them,  to  announce 
the  fall  to  Forest  officials,  to  water  and  feed  the  animals 
in  pits  till  they  are  kraaled,  and  to  construct  mstoms 
(huts)  for  the  Government  servants  and  officers.  They 
get  an  edangali  (5  of  the  Madras  measure)  of  rice 
for  covering  and  watching  the  pits;  while  for  tracking 
and  for  constructing  matoms  they  are  given  five 
nslies  of  rice  and  six  pies  per  day;  for  feeding  the 
elephants  in  the  pit  a  similar  quantity  of  rice  and  three 
pies  per  diem.  On  the  kraaling  day  there  is  a  general 
distribution  of  rice.  These  duties  fall  to  the  share  of 
the  Malayars  specially.  It  is  the  privilege  of  the 
Kajars  to  serve  the  Raja  when  touring  in  the  forests. 
They  carry  his  Manjel  (a  hammock-like  conveyance 
in  which  the  Raja  travels,  and  carried  by  men  on  .their 
shoulders),  his  luggage,  etc.  In  return  they  meet  with 
kindness  at  the  hands  of  His  Highness  who  feeds  them 
and  gives  them  cloths,  ornaments,  combes  and  looking 
glasses.  Of  the  Katar  it  has  been  observed  that  “these 
peculiar  people  could  never  be  frightened  into  doing 
anything,  and  that  when  any  harsh  words  are  used, 
they  simply  move  away  from  one  place  to  another.  One 
forest  to  them  is  as  good  as  another,  and  they  get  their 
few  wants  supplied  either  here  or  there.  They  are 
quite  simple,  unsophisticated  and  utter  aliens  to  vice 
and  trickery.  They  are  plain  and  straightforward  in 
their  dealings,  never  tell  a  lie,  never  deceive  another. 
Work  they  never  shirk,  and  being  sturdy  and  strong 
they  are  fit  for  any  kind  of  physical  exertion  or  endur¬ 
ance.  In  the  carrying  of  loads  and  weights,  they 
are  very  enduring  and  have  a  great  capacity  for  rapidly 
recruiting.  Altogether  they  appear  to  be  a  quiet  and 
submissive  race  obeying  the  slightest  expression  of  a 
wish  and  very  grateful  for  any  assistance  or  attention. ” 
The  lot  of  the  Eravallers  is  no  better.  The  men  are 
attached  to  farmers  under  whom  they  work  for  daily 
wages  of  2  edangalies  of  paddy,  worth  perhaps  2  annas. 
The  women  also  work  for  low  wages,  but  never  agree 
to  serve  in  a  state  of  bondage.  Notwithstanding  their 


HILL  TRIBES 


595 


S.N.  19,] 

low  condition  they  have  been  described  as  ‘‘always 
truthful,  honest,  faithful,  and  God-fearing  and  never, 
like  the  Pulayas.  of  the  northern  parts  of  the  State, 
running  away  from  their  masters-” 

These  simple  people  have  not  yet  left  behind  them 
their  ancient  landmarks  and  attempts  made  by  the 
Christian  Missionaries  to  wean  them  from  primitive 
barbarism  have  not  hitherto  met  with  much  success. 
It  is  said  that  a  certain  philanthropic  Missionary  in 
Cochin  made  an  endeavour  to  educate  the  hill 
tribes,  and,  if  possible,  to  bring  them  into  the  fold 
of  Christianity.  With  this  view  he  set  up  a  small 
school  in  one  of  the  jungle  villages  and  tried  his  level 
best  to  persuade  the  tribes  to  send  their  youths  to  be 
educated  but  to  no  purpose.  They  would  not  swerve 
an  inch  from  the  beaten  track  of  their  ancestors. 
Distribution  of  sweets  and  pictorial  booklets  failed  and 
no  inducement  of  whatever  sort  would  lure  them  to 
send  their  children  to  be  educated.  The  disheartened 
philanthropist  had  at  last  to  give  up  his  attempt. 
Perhaps  one  need  not  be  sorry  at  such  failures,  for  the 
enlightened  philanthropy  of  such  gentlemen  is  slowly 
but  surely  wiping  the  traces  of  early  tribes.  Several 
forces  are  working  at  the  annihilation  of  the  remnants  of 
ancientjraces  and  unless  a  full  record  of  the  life,  manners 
and  customs  of  those  that  have  hitherto  escaped  the  atten¬ 
tion  of  the  philanthropist  is  made  at  once,  the  historian 
of  the  future  will  have  no  material  to  trace  the  evolution 
of  the  races  that '  once  inhabited  this  land.  “The 
employment  of  tiles  and  kerosine  tins  in  lieu  of 
primitive  thatch,  the  import  of  cotton  piece  goods  and 
umbrellas  instead  of  country  made  goods  and  umbrellas 
covered  with  leaves,  the  decline  of  national  costume  in 
favour  of  European  costume,  the  substitution  of  caps 
of  gaudy  hue  and  pith  turbans  for  national  turbans,  the 
replacement  of  peasant  jewelry  of  indigenous  manufac¬ 
ture  by  beads  and  imitation  jewelry  made  in  Europe, 
the  use  of  lucifer  matches  by  aboriginal  tribes  who 


59  r> 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  2  T. 

formerly  made  fire  by  friction,  the  supply  of  new  forms 
of  food  and  of  beer  and  spirits  in  the  bazaars,  the 
administration  of  justice  instead  of  that  distributed  by 
the  old  village  panchayats,  the  attempts  of  the  low 
castes  to  elevate  themselves  by  the  adoption  of  the 
customs  and  manners  of  the  higher  castes,  the  spread 
of  western  education,  religious  teaching  and  conversion 
to  Christianity  by  European  Missionaries — these  and 
many  other  factors  are  the  causes  of  radical  change  in 
the  ethnographic  conditions  of  the  country.”1  In  the 
words  of  Professor  A.  C.  Haddon  of  Cambridge, 
“Now  is  the  time  to  record.  An  infinitude  has  been 
lost  to  us  and  a  very  great  deal  is  now  rapidly  disap¬ 
pearing.  The  most  interesting  materials  are  becoming 
lost  to  us  not  only  by  their  disappearance,  but  by  the 
apathy  of  those  who  should  delight  in  recording  them 
before  they  have  become  lost  to  sight  and  memory.” 

It  is  interesting  to  know  something  of  the  origin 
of  these  tribes.  Dr.  Topiniard  in  his  well-known  work 
on  Anthropology  classes  the  hill  tribes  of  the  Dekhan 
and  Southern  India  as  coming  under  the  first  of  the 
three  classes  into  which  he  divides  the  “Hindu  type”, 
viz.,  the  Black,  the  Mongolian  and  the  Aryan.  Mr.  Deni- 
kar  regards  them  as  uncivilized  Dravidians  while  Dr. 
A.  H.  Keane  says,  “There  is  good  evidence  to  show 
that  the  first  arrivals  in  India  were  a  black  people  most 
probably  Negritos,  who  made  their  way  from  Malaysia 
round  the  Bay  of  Bengal  to  the  Himalayan  foot  hills,  and 
thence  spread  overJ,he  peninsular  without  ever  reach¬ 
ing  Ceylon.  At  present  there  are  no  distinctly  Negrito 
communities  in  the  land  nor  has  any  clear  trace  of  a 
distinctly  Negrito  language  yet  been  discovered.  But 
distinctly  Negrito  features  crop  up  continually  in  the 
uplands  from  the  Himalayan  slopes  to  Cape  Comorin 
over  against  Ceylon.  The  Negritos  in  fact  have  been 
absorbed  or  largely  assimilated  by  the  later  intruders, 
and  as  of  these  there  are  four  separate  stocks  we  call 
the  Negritos  the  submerged  fifth.  There  has  been 
i;  Cochin  2  rib cs  and  Castes . 


HILL  TRIBES 


597 


N.  S.  19  ] 

ample  evidence  for  the  submergencesince  they  arrived 
if  not  in  the  early,  certainly  in  the  Tertiary  period, 
many  thousand  of  years  ago.”  According  to  Dr*. 
Keane,  many  of  the  primitive  tribes  living  in  the  plateau 
of  the  Dekhan  and  in  the  uplands  of  Southern  India 
are  of  Kolarjan  race,  and  to  this  primitive  group  belong 
the  Malayar,  Katar,  UilStan,  Eravallerand  other  tribes 
who  though  speaking  a  Dravidian  dialect  are  not  full- 
booded  Dravidians  but  represent  different  Negrito, 
Kolarians>  and  Arayan  blends.  These  tribes  avoiding 
all  contact  with  the  Aryans  and  Dravidians  have  pre¬ 
served  many  of  their  primitive  customs  and  manners. 

Some  of  the  customs  observed  by  these  hill  tribes 
as  well  as  by  their  more  civilized  brethren  on  the  plains 
are  to  be  found  outside  India  among  people  in  a  low 
state  of  civilization.  For  instance,  the  seclusion  of 
girls  "during  puberty  and  subsequent  menses;  the 
various  ceremonies  performed  during  puberty  by  hill 
tribes  and  by  all  castes  among  Hindus,  are  not  confined 
entirely  to  India,  but  are  prevalent  among  savage  races 
in  many  parts  of  the  world.  There  appears  to  be  some 
sort  of  uniformity  in  the  observances  which  are  rigidly 
followed  by  people  in  a  low  statejDf  civilization.  Some 
incidents  of  the  curious  custom  regarding  puberty 
mentioned  hereunder  will  be  found  to  be  interesting. 
The  girls  of  Loango  are  at  puberty  confined  in  separate 
huts  and  they  may  not  touch  the  ground  with  any  part 
of  their  body.  Among  the  Zulus  and  the  kindred 
tribes,  if  the  first  signs  of  puberty  appears,  while  a 
girl  is  walking,  gathering  wood  or  working  in  the  field, 
she  hides  herself  among  the  reeds  for  the  day  so  as  not 
to  be.  seen  by  men.  She  covers  her  head  with  a  blanket 
so  as  to  prevent  the  rays  of  the  Sun  from  falling  upon 
her  head  and  returns  home  during  the  night.  In  new 
Ireland,  girls  are  confined  in  small  cages  for  four  or 
five  years  and  kept  in  the  dark  without  being  allowed 
to  set  foot  on  the  ground.  In  North  Queensland  a 
girl  at  puberty  is  to. live  by  herself  for  a  month  or  six 


598  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

weeks,  no  man  may  see  her  though  women  may.  She 
stays  in  a  separate  hut  and  will  always  be  lying  on  the 
floor.  She  may  not  see  the  Sun,  and  till  Sunset,  she 
must  keep  her  eyes  closed,  otherwise  it  is  thought  that 
her  nose  will  be  diseased.  She  cannot  during  her 
seclusion,  eat  anything  that  lives  in  salt  water.  If  she 
does,  She  would  die  of  snake-bite.  An  old  woman,  who 
waits  upon  her,  supplies  her  with  roots  and  water. 
Some  tribes  are  wont  to  bury  their  girls  at  such  seasons 
more  or  less  deeply  in  the  ground,  probably  to  hide 
them  from  the  light  of  the  day.  Among  some  of  the 
American  tribes  girls  after  the  first  bath  submit  to  a 
flogging  by  her  mother  with  thin  rods  without  uttering 
a  cry.  At  the  end  of  the  second  period,  she  is  again 
beaten,  but  not  afterwards.  She  is  now  clean.  It  is 
supposed  that  the  girl  is  under  malign  influence  at 
this  period.  The  custom  of  stinging  her  with  ants  or 
beating  her  with  rods  is  intended  to  relieve  her  from 
it.  The  Indian  girls  of  Cayenne  subject  themselves 
to  excruciating  torture  from  the  stings  not  merely  of 
ants,  but  also  of  the  most  ferocious  of  wasps. 

The  reason  for  this  seclusion  of  girls  and  women 
during  mensesjlies  in  the  dread  which  the  primitive  man 
entertains  of  the  menstruous  blood.  Among  the 
Australian  Blacks  the  boys  are  told  that  the  sight  of 
the  blood  turns  one’s  hair  grey  and  causes  premature 
old  age.  Hence  it  is,  that  women  live  apart  and  keep 
away  from  places  frequented  by  men  who  in  their  turn 
scrupulously  avoid  paths  trodden  by  women  in  their 
menses.  In  Australia  women  who  infringe  these  rules 
are  severely  punished  even  into  death.  In  central 
Australia,  women  at  these  times  avoid  eating  fish  or 
bathing  in  a  river,  lest  they  may  die  and  the  water  dry 
up.  It  is  the  belief  of  the  people  of  Sumatra  that 
women  in  the  unclean  state  cannot  go  near  paddy  fields, 
lest  the  crops  may  all  perish.  The  Bushmen  of  Africa 
believe  that  the  glance  of  women  at  this  period  changes 
men  into  trees  with  power  to  talk.  Cattle-rearing 
tribes  in  Africa  hold  that  cattle  would  die  if  milk  were 


s,  N.  19.] 


HILL  TRIBES 


599 


drunk  by  women  in  their  menses.  According  to  the 
Talmud  if  a  woman  at  the  beginning  of  the  period 
passes  between  two  men,  she  thereby  kills  one  of  them, 
if  she  passes  between  them  at  the  end  of  the  period  she 
causes  them  to  quarrel*  violently.  The  Parsees,  who 
worship  fire,  will  not  allow  menstruous  women  to  see  a 
lighted  taper.  Among  all  classes  of  the  Hindus  the 
women  at  such  periods  are  under  seclusion.  Men  who 
speak  with  them,  who  approach  them,  who  are  exposed 
to  the  air  that  blow  over  them,  are  ail  regarded  as  un¬ 
clean.  They  cannot  walk  by  the  side  of  flowering 
plants,  or  by  the  side  of  the  kitchen,  nor  can  they  touch 
any  of  the  vessels.  To  approach  her  at  this  period  is 
to  ensure  dangerous  illness.  They  may  not  walk  on 
common  paths,  cross  the  track  of  animals  or  milk 
cows,  they  have  to  eat  as  little  as  possible  and  remain 
lying  down  in  a  penitential  mood.  Strict  adherence  to 
these  rules,  it  is  said,  will  lead  to  good  health  and  long 
life, 

The  ideas  detailed  above  and  deeply  ingrained  in 
the  savage  mind  re-appear  at  a  more  advanced  period 
of  society  in  the  form  of  elaborate  codes  which  have 
been  drawn  up  for  the  guidance  of  people  by  lawgivers 
who  claim  to  have  derived  their  inspirations  from  God. 
Manu  says  that  the  wisdom,  energy,  sight  and  vitality 
of  a  man  who  approaches  a  woman  in  her  courses,  will 
perish,  whereas  if  he  avoids  her  the  same  will  increase.1 
According  to  the  Persian  lawgiver  Zoroaster,  the  flow 
of  menses  in  women  is  caused  by  the  evil  one  known 
as  Ahriman .  Therefore,  as  long  as  it  lasts,  she  is  un¬ 
clean  and  is  possessed  of  the  evil  one.  She  has  to 
be  kept  confined  and  not  allowed  to  see  the  fire,  and 
her  diet  during  the  period  should  be  as  sparing  as 
possible,  lest  the  strength  she  may  acquire  by  a  rich 
diet  should  lead  to  the  harm  of  her  friends.  According 
to  Pliny,  the  touch  of  a  menstruous  woman  turned  wine 
into  vinegar,  blighted  crops,  killed  seedlings,  blasted 
gardens,  brought  down  the  fruit  from  trees,  dimmed 


l.  Vide  Sattk<ira  Smriihi^ 


600  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  21. 

mirrors,  blunted  razors,  rusted,  iron  and  brass,  killed 
bees  or  drove  them  from  the  hives  and  caused  mares  to 
miscarry.  In  various  parts  of  Europe  it  is  still  believed 
that,  if  a  woman  in  her  courses  enters  a  brewery,  the 
beer  will  turn  sour;  if  she  touches  beer,  wine,  vinegar 
or  milk,  it  will  become  bad;  if  she  mounts  a  mare,  she 
will  miscarry;  if  she  touches  buds,  they  will  wither;  if 
she  climbs  a  tree  it  will  die;  if  she  helps  the  touching 
of  a  pig,  the  pork  will  be  putrified.  Her  presence  in 
a  boat  is  said  to  raise  storms.  Therefore  the  seclusion 
of  women  at  such  times  is  to  minimise  the  dangerous 
influences  that  are  supposed  to  emanate  from  them.1 

Another  custom  which  may  be  referred  to 
here  is  that  of  the  Kstars  chipping  their  incisor 
teeth.  The  custom  of  deforming  the  teeth  is  not 
confined  to  Southern  India,  but  is  found  prevailing 
among  different  tribes  in  Africa  and  Australia, 
where  the  practice  is,  in  general,  confined  to  the 
chipping  of  the  incisor  teeth.  Westermark  in  his 
History  of  Human  Marriage  says,  that,  when  the  age 
of  puberty  is  drawing  near,  in  several  parts  of  Africa 
and  Australia,  they  knock  out  some  teeth,  knowing  that 
they  would  otherwise  run  the  risk  of  being  rejected  on 
account  of  ugliness.  In  the  Malaya  Peninsula,  the 
practice  of  filing  the  teeth  and  blackening  is  a  necessary 
prelude  to  marriage.  Further  Darwin,  in  his  Descent 
of  Man ,  writes,  that  the  natives  of  the  Upper  Nile 
knock  out  the  four  front  teeth,  saying  that  they  do  not 
wish  to  resemble  brutes.  Some  tribes,  says  Dr. 
Livingstone,  knock  out  the  two  incisors,  because  they 
give  the  face  a  hideous  appearance.  A  writer  in  the 
Madras  Journal  of  Literature  and  Science  observes. 
“These  little  dwarfish  people  the  Kadars  file  their  front 
teeth  in  points  to  facilitate  their  eating  the  hardest 
roots.  There  is  some  nerve  shown  in  this  and  we  may 
look  with  wonder  and  respect  uppn  the  exiled  lords  of 
the  ancient  land  when  we  see  that  rather  than  serve 
Jthose  who  usurped  the  country,  they  chose  to  live, 
j,  See  instances  collected  in  Cochin  1  ribes  and  Castes , 


HILL  TRIBES 


601 


S.  N.  19.] 

where  the  food  was  beyond  their  natural  powers  and 
could  be  eaten  only  by  such  a  preparation  of  their  teeth. 
It  is  possible,  that  in  the  absence  of  better  arms,  they 
reckoned  upon  these  pointed  teeth  as  weapons,  in  case 
their  conquerors  should  follow  them  to  their  mountain 
home.”1 


i.  Monograph  No.  9,  Radars,  page  15. 


LETTER*  XXII. 


i.  Foreigners:  three  descriptions.  This  letter 

treats  mostly  of  the  foreign  Brahman  element  in  the 
population  of  Malabar.  Our  author’s  classification 
of  them  is  not  exhaustive.  .  In  the  Mackenzie 
Manuscripts i,  it  is  said  that  there  are  fifteen  sects  of 
Brahmans  in  Malabar.  In  the  Cochin  State  Dr.  Day 
divides  them  into  five.  —  “  the  Dravida,  Telinga, 
Carnatic,  Maharatta  and  Guzeratta.  ”  A  common 
'ivision  into  EmprSns  from  Mangalore,  Pattars  from 
various  districts  on  the  East  Coast,  and  Konkariis 
from  Canara  may  also  be  mentioned. 

2.  The  Pattars.  The  word  Pattar  is  a 
corruption  of  the  Sanskrit  Bhattar,  and  the  term  is  used 
to  denote  the  Brahmans  from  the  East  Coast,,  who 
have  either  permanently  settled  in  Malabar  or  have 
made  it  their  temporary  abode.  The  prospect  of  gain 
and.  the  great  venertaion  entertained  by  the  Malayaiis 
for  the  twice-born  class  attract  crowds  of  Brahmans 
from  the  surrounding  countries,  such  as,  Tinnevelly, 
Tanjore,  Coimbatore,  etc.  The  Pattars  trace  the  date 
of  their  first  emigration  to  the  period  of  the  earliest 
Kshetriya  Princes.  There  are  large  colonies  of  them 
spread  throughout  the  country.  But  their  chief  settle¬ 
ment  is  in  and  around  Palghat.  Wherever  they  have 
settled,  they  live  in  A grab  trams  or  Gramams  (villages). 
The  houses  of  the  Pattar  Brahmans  are  built  conti¬ 
guous  to  one  another  in  straight  streets,  while  the 
Malayaiis  live  in  detached  houses  surrounded  by 
gardens.  In  other  places,  where  their  residence  is  only 
temporary,  they,  are  collected  under  Samooham 
Madhams ,  (communal  mutts)  or  houses  belonging  to  the 
community,  which  serve  as  a  point  of  union.  Of  these 
there  are  many,  scattered  throughout  the  country. 
Every  individual  attaches  himself  to  one  of  these 
i.  No.  17,  Countermark  5 — 10, 


' 


. 


K 


Cl 


si 


*1 

u 


TAMIL  BRAHMIN  LADY  WITH  HER  DAUGHTERS. 


THE  PATTARS  ■ 


603 


N.  2.] 

Madhams ,  and  thus  the  Pattars  form  themselves  into 
little  corporations.  The  Madhams  (mathams)  have 
generally  common  funds  replenished  by  contributions 
made  by  members  of  the  community.  The  funds 
are  administered  and  the  affairs  of  the  community 
looked  after  by  officers  elected  from  among  themselves. 
The  Pattars  used  to  be  chiefly  engaged  in  the  pursuits 
of  commerce,  but  latterly  have  devoted  themselves  to 
other  walks  of  life  as  well.  Those  bent  on  commerce 
alone  traverse  all  parts  of  the  interior  finding  a  subsis¬ 
tence  at  every  Pagoda  or  Uttupura  or  feeding  house 
of  which  there  are  many  in  the  country,  which  are  de¬ 
signed  for  their  sole  benefit.  They  take  full  advantage 
of  these  institutions,  for  they  congregate  and  carry  on 
their  trade  generally  in  their  vicinity,  thus  turning  what 
was  originally  intended  as  resting  houses  for  wayfarers 
into  feeding  houses  for  permanent  residents.  Their 
object  is  only  to  accumulate  as  much  wealth  as  possible 
with  which  to  retire  to  their  families  by  whom  they  are 
rarely  accompanied.  They  are  indefatigable  in  the 
pursuit  of  this  end  which  their  singular  perseverance 
and  economy  generally  enable  them  to  accomplish  soon. 
They  do  not  generally  build  their  houses  in  the  country 
but  manage  to  get  a  room  in  a  Nayar  house,  and  more 
often  ally  themselves  in  sambhandham  with  the  female 
members  of  the  Nayar  family  who,  out  of  their  super¬ 
stitious  reverence  to  their  sacred  order,  minister  to 
them  without  stint.  Thus  they  live  enjoying  all  com¬ 
forts  of  life  till  they  are  able  to  accumulate  some  wealth, 
which  being  accomplished,  they  coolly  retire  to  their 
own  country,  caring  little  for  their  offspring  they  may 
be  leaving  behind.  Unlike  the  proud  and  domineering 
Malaysli  who  disdains  from  pursuing  professions  other 
than  those  that  are  theirs  by  tradition,  the  Pattar 
Brahman  plies  his  hand  to  every  trade. 

The  Pattar  is  found  in  every  walk  of  life  and  he 
makes  his  presence  felt  by  his  superior  intelligence, 
application  and  industry.  This  class  of  Brahmans 
pccupy  at  present  the  most  important  offices  iiT  the 


GQd  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

Government  and  are  conspicuous  in  all  the  learned  pro¬ 
fessions.  Sacred  as  their  order  is,  they  do  not  show  any 
aversion  to  serve  in  apy  department,  however  low,  in 
the  State.  Of  them  it  has  been  remarked,  “Ambitious 
of  office  they  often  attain  it,  but  are  generally  seen  per¬ 
forming  some  of  the  minor  duties  of  the  temples,  often 
in  still  meaner  occupations,  frequently  of  a  secular 
kind,  but  nearly  half  are  merchants  trading  in  cloth 
(of  which  they  once  had  the  exclusive  privilege)  and 
grain”.  They  are  the  so  wears  of  Malabar.  But  as 
merchants  and  money-lenders,  their  reputation  has  not 
been  altogether  enviable.  As  cooks  and  domestic  ser¬ 
vants,  they  are  largely  employed  by  all  aristocratic 
families.  Even  under  Nsyars,  they  serve  as  cooks.  In 
Malabar  they  have  made  themselves  thoroughly  at  home 
by  adopting  the  ways  of  the  Malaysli  in  regard  to  minor 
social  matters,  such  as  dress,  language,  observance  of 
pollution  by  touch  and  approach  etc.,  while  retaining 
their  distinctive  nationality  and  adhering  steadfastly 
to  the  customs  of  their  forefathers  in  all  essential  res¬ 
pects.  Many  of  them  speak  Malayalam  well  enough, 
while  those  who  have  adopted  Malabar  as  their  native 
country  use  a  jargon  which  is  more  Malayalam  than 
Tamil. 

3.  Pattars  no  share  in  administration.  Our 

author  must  have  been  misinformed  in  this  respect. 
Though  the  Pajtars  used  not  to  be  so  largely  employed 
formerly  in  the  Government  services  as  at  present, 
yet  it  is  certain  that  they  took  not  an  unimportant 
part  in  the  administration  of  the  country.  It  may, 
however,  be  true  that  those  who  spent  only  three  or 
four  years  on  the  coast  were  regarded  as  foreigners 
and  for  that  reason  excluded  from  the  Public  Service. 
The  celebrated  Rama  Ayyen  Dalavah  of  Travancore, 
“the  General  Ram”  mentioned  by  Col.  Wilkes,  who 
worked  so  admirably  with  the  famous  Travancore  King 
Msrtfaijda  Vurmah  in  resuscitating,  unifying  and 
consolidating  that  State,  belonged  to  this  class.  Fra 
Bartolomeo,  in  referring  to  the  statement  of  Diodorus' 


!  he  Late  Mr.  T.  A.  Doraswamy  Iyer, 

(I  fe  was  a  leader  of  the  Bar  and  of  the  public 
in  Cochin,  and  a  musician  famous  in  South 


PRIVILEGES  TO  PATTARS 


605 


N.  $.] 

Siculus  that  the  Brahmans  engaged  themselves  in  no 
public  business  and  accepted  no  dignified  places,  re¬ 
marks  that  “this  is  a  palpable  falsehood.  The  kings 
who  hold  the  reins  of  government  at  Edappilly  on  the 
Coast  of  Malabar  and  also  at  Parur  and  Araceri  are 
certainly  Brahmans  ;  and  the  King  of  Travancore,  in 
the  year  1776,  had  a  Delava,  a  prime  minister  who  also 
belonged  to  that  class.  In  States  which  are  under  the 
dominion  of  Pagan  princes,  they  are  still,  as  in  the 
time  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  overseers  of  religion,  high 
priests,  instructors  of  the  people,  observers  of  eclipses 
of  the  Sun  and  Moon,  and  the  King’s  councillors.” * 
But  we  have  to  remark  that  the  accounts  left  us  by  the 
Portuguese  and  the  Dutch  travellers  of  the  early  middle 
ages  do  not  make  mention  of  any  Pattar  Brahman  as 
occupying  any  conspicuous  position  in  the  administra¬ 
tion  of  the  country.  It  may  be  that  the  Portuguese  and 
the  Dutch  were  not  able  to  differentiate  between  the  home 
and  the  foreign  Brahmans,  or  it  may  be  that,  by  the 
time  that  Bartolomeo  wrote,  the  Pattar  Brahman  had 
begun  to  make  his  presence  in  Malabar  felt.  In  former 
times,  they  were  undoubtedly  used  as  confidential 
messengers  and  spies3.  Their  sacred  order  secured 
immunity  •  from  molestation  while  passing  through 
Hindu  States,  and  both  the  European  and  Mahomedan 
States  of  Southern  India  used  to  employ  a  large  batch 
of  them  as  messengers  who  were  called  Harikars%  a 
designation  still  retained  by  the  Pattar  Brahman  ser¬ 
vants  attached. to  the  Rajas  and  high  officers  of  State. 

4#_  Factories.  These  factories  and  magazines 
are  perhaps  the  Samuha  Madhams  already  mentioned. 

5.  Privileges  to  Pattares.  As  regards  the 
first  privilege — They  have  the  privilege  of  being  fed 
free  at  choultries  or  Uttupuras  or  feeding  houses  with 
which  the  country  abounds.  These  are  generally 
attached  to  Pagodas.  They  were  originally  designed 
for  wayfarers  but  has  latterly  became  either  asylums 

x.  P.  296. 

x.  Malabar,  p,  129. 


606  LETTERS  EROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

for  an  indigent  and  idle  resident  Brahman  population, 
or  centres  round  which  shrewd  members  of  tne  class 
congregate  for  purposes  of  trade  and  take  advantage 
of  the  free  feeding.  The  Brahmans  who  are  fed  at 
these  institutions  are  not  now  called  on  to  sweep  and 
clean  the  buildings.  The  States  of  Cochin  and  Tra- 
vancore  have  recently  restricted  the  feeding  Of  the 
resident  Pattar  population  in  the  choultries  to  a  large 
extent. 

6.  Three  castes.  These  are  not  castes  of 
Brahmans.  The  names  indicate  more  or  less  the  loca¬ 
lities  wherefrom  they  came  into  Malabar  originally. 

Pandy  is  a  term  used  by  the  Malayalis  to  denote 
the  country  to  the  East  of  the  Ghauts  lying  towards 
the  south,  comprising  the  districts  of  Tanjore,  Tinne- 
velly,  Trichinopoly  and  Madura. 

Tole  stands  for  Tulunad  or  Carnara.  The 
Brahmans  who  came  from  Tuiunsd  are  strictly  speaking 
Malayaiis,  for  Malabar  or  Kerala  extends  to  Gokar- 
nam  in  the  north.  As  such  they  enjoy  privileges  that 
are  denied  to  the  Pattar  Brahmans.  While  the  EmpfSns 
or  Tuiu  Brahmans  are  accepted  as  priests  to  officiate 
in  Malabar  temples,  the  Pattar  Brahmans  are  not 
allowed  even  access  to  the  interior  of  the  chief  shrine. 
In  Travancore,  they  are  also  called  Potftfi.  The  word 
signifies  in  Tamil  “worshipful”..  Besides  temporary 
residents,  there  are  those  who  have  made  Malabar 
their  home.  There  are  three  sections  among  them 
answering  to  the  chronological  order  in  which  they 
arrived  in  the  country.  Kerala  is  said  to  have 
been  once  divided  into  five  Khandams  (Kha^dams 
or  divisions  with  regard  to  the  Brahman  communities 
that  held  sway  over  each.  These  were  known  as; — 

(1)  the  Potfri  Khandam  which  is  the  southern¬ 
most  occupied  by  Poms;  (2)  the  Nanipi  Kha^diam, 
(3)  the  Nampiti  Khandam;  (4)  the  Namptatiri  Kha$<Jam; 
and  (5)  the  Narnpupri  KhaijuJam. 


THREE  CASTES 


N.  6.] 


601 


In  Travancore,  the  Pofffis  are  the  largest  land* 
holders  corresponding  to  the  Namputiri  jenmies  of  the 
north. 


The  seven  families  of  Sthsnattil  Potftfis  and  the 

9  •  9 

Pattillattu  Potftfis  of  T  ravancore  come  under  the  first 

9  9  9  9 

of  the  three  divisions.  The  Sthanattil  Potftfis  are 

9  9  9 

among'  the  traditional  trustees  of  Sri  PadmanSbha 
SwSmi’s  temple  at  Trivandrum.  The  names  of  the 
seven  families  are: — 

(i)  Kupakkara  Potftfi;  (2)  VanchiyUr  Attiyara 
Pot$i.  (3)  Kollur  Attiyara  Potti;  (4)  Muttavila  Potftfi; 
(5)  Naysseri  PoPt*i;  (6)  Karuva  Potftd  and  (7)  Sri 
Kariyatftfu  Potftfi. 

These  together  with  the  Maharaja,  the  Namputiri 
SwSmiySr  attached  to  the  temple,  and  a  Nayar  noble¬ 
man,  called  Karanatta  Kurup  constitute  the  Ettara 
Yogam  or  council  of  members  of  the  temple 
corporation.  They  at  one  time  enjoyed  quasi*sovereign 
powers.  The  Pattillatt,  Potftfis  who  are  Purohitas,  or 
family  priests  of  the  Travancore  Royal  house,  also 
come  under  this  head,  They  are  also  called  Tiruveli 
Pot'fis  (Potftfis  that  attend  at  the  SrSdha  rites  of  the 
Kings)  and  enjoy  the  same  rank  for  purposes  of  State 
privileges  as  Namputiris. 

The  next  division  comprise  the  Tiruvella  Desi 
Poftfis  who  are  later  emigrants  from  TuiuMdand  who 
by  lapse  of  time  became  assimilated  with  the  general 
body  of  the  Namputiris  in  habits,  manners  and  cus¬ 
toms.  The  first  batch  is  said  to  have  come  at  the 
invitation  of  Udaya  Vafma  Raja  at  about  336  A.  D. 
and  settled  themselves  in  and  around  Tiruvella.  Hence 
they  came  tD  be  known  as  Tiruvella  Desis.  The 
grSmams  of  Chengannur  and  Venmani  are  two  import¬ 
ant  groups  of  Tiruvella  Desis  with  the  Msmpiiii 
Pantaram  as  the  head  of  the  latter.  They  belong  to 
the  Bodhayana  Sutfa. 

The  third  division  consists  of  those  sojourners 
who  came  from  the  Taluks  of  Uppinangate  and 


008  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

Kasserkote  in  South  Canara  and  who  are  employed  as 
temple  priests  or  PujSris. 

For  all  practical  purposes,  the  PoWis  may  be 
classed  under  Nambutiris.  The  Nambupri  Vaidlkas 
and  Smartfas  have  the  same  social  and  religious  con*- 
trol  over  them  as  over  the  Nambutiris  themselves. 
Their  rules  of  caste  government  are  similar  and  the 
machinery  to  enforce  them  identical.  They  howeve*r 
perform  no  ySgas  (sacrifices),  never  enter  the  ascetic 
order  of  SannySsis  and  seldom  study  the  Vedas,  con¬ 
fining  themselves  to  what  is  called  Mujalora,  mutal- 
mura  or  formal  first  recitation.  The  Tiruveli  Potffis, 
being  the  Purohits  of  the  Travancore  Royal  family, 
have  however  kept  up  Vedic  studies.  Hence  no 
Malaydi  Potftfi,  excepting  the  Pat^illatt  Poftfis  is 
eligible  to  chant  Vedic  texts  during  the  Murajapam 
ceremony,  celebrated  at  Trivandrum  once  in  six  ye'ars. 

A  Naipbu'tiri,  learned  in  the  Vedas,  officiates  at 
their  ceremonies  as  chief  priest.  The  following  dis¬ 
tinctions  in  ceremonial  observances  between  the  Potftfis 
and  Nambutiris  may  be  noted.  The  Samavarttanam 
ceremony  among  Pothhs  takes  place  three  years 
after  the  Lfpanayanam  and  a  Potti  becomes  a  Snataka 
at  the  latest  by  his  12th  year  unlike  in  the  case  of 

Nambutiris.  The  females  of  all  Nambutiri  classes 
•  *  •  • 

except  the  Adhyan  wear  brass  bangles,  while  the 
Potftfi  women  generally  put  on  silver  bangles.  Consum¬ 
mation  takes  place  on  the  fourth  day  of  marriage  or,  if 
that  is  inauspicious,  on  the  fifth.  The  Chengannu'r 
GrSmakkar  are  endogamous  in  the  extreme  and  never 
marry  out  of  their  village.  The  other  Malaysii  Potftfis 
do  not  observe  such  a  restriction.  The  chief  occu¬ 
pation  of  the  Potfi  is  priesthood  at  temples,  but 
several  of  them  are  landlords.  In  the  matter  of 
education  on  western  Hues,  they  occupy  almost  the 
same  position  as  the  Nampupris. 

Their  laws  of  inheritance,  their  habitation,  their 
social  ordinances  and  appellations,  their  songs  and  re¬ 
creations  are  all  exactly  the  same  as  those  of  the 


KONKAN  BRAHMINS. 


THE  KONKANIES 


609 


N.  70 

Naitibufiris.  In  their  religious  worship  too,  they 
resemble  the  Nambutiris.1 

“Toelegen”.  Those  who  came  from  the  Telingsna 
or  Telugu  country. 

“  Tanjour”.  Perhaps  a  misprint  for  ‘Tanjour*, 
indicating  those  who  came  from  the  district  of  Tanjore. 

“Choolea  Those  who  came  from  the  Chola 
country.  There  is  a  peculiar  feature  about  the  Cholia 
and  Mukkani  Brahmans.  While  all  other  East  Coast 
Brahmans  wear  the  Kutumbi,  or  tuft  of  hair,  at  the 
back  of  the  head,  these  like  the  Malaysiis  wear  it  on 
the  crown. 

“Mockeramby  ”.  Otherwise  MukkSny  who  are 
perhaps  emigrants  from  Chola.  They  too  wear  the 
top-knot.  These  constitute  the  “Pattares”  of  Malabar, 
i.  e.,  the  foreign  Brahmans.  They  have  been  so  well 
described  as  regards  their  manners,  customs,  daily  lire 
etc.  by  the  Abbe  Dubois  that  it  is  altogether  unneces¬ 
sary  to  say  anything  about  them  here. 

7.  The  Konkanies.  Their  ornaments  and  clo¬ 
thing,  Our  author  gives  us  a  good  idea  of  the  dress 
and  ornaments  of  the  Konkanies.  Though  not  material¬ 
ly  changed,  still,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  change  has 
come  over  them  in  this  respect.  At  present,  men  do 
not  generally  wear  the  long  white  tunic  nor  do  they 
cover  their  heads  with  an  ‘Roomal*  or  band.  But,  in 
the  near  past,  they  did  so,  and  there  are  still  a  very  few 
who  do  so.  The  present  generation  of  Konkani  men 
adopt  the  ordinary  dress  of  the  people  of  Malabar  when 
they  go  out  in  the  public;  but,  on  religious  and  festive 
occasions,  they  wear  Soman  tucked  between  the  legs 
like  the  East  Coast  Brahmans  and  throw  the  Uttariyam 
or  veshti  over  the  shoulders.  The  women  have  begun 
to  wear  white  cloths  with  silken  and  laced  borders. 
Their  cloths  are  generally  meagre  of  breadth  and  sel¬ 
dom  extend  below  the  knees,  leaving  the  calves  of  the 
legs  exposed  to  view.  They  wear  the  Rowkki  or 

1.  Travancore  Census  Report,  p.  339* 

BY. 


610  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

bodice.  The  wedding  ornament  is  a  pendant  of  an 
oblong  form  made  of  pure  gold.  A  silken  cord  with 
black  beads  strung  together  on  either  side  of  the  pen¬ 
dant  is  their  neck  ornament.  Figures  of  the  sun  and 
moon,  or  rather  of  the  half-moon  are  engraved  on  the 
pendants-  They  bore  the  ears  and  the  nose  and  wear 
ornaments  there.  The  ornaments  of  the  Konkanis 
are,  generally  speaking,  more  massive  and  interestingly 
antique  in  appearance  than  of  elegant  workmanship. 
The  women  indulge  in  the  use  of  all  sorts  of  flowers, 
sweet  scented  or  not,  to  adorn  their  hair,  which  they 
tie  in  a  knot  behind  their  heads  and  not  twist  in  a  roll 
on  one  side  as  in  our  author’s  days.  They  pluck  their 
hair  off  their  forehead  up  to  above  the  ears  from  below. 

8.  The  Canarese.  These  are  more  properly 
known  as  Konkanies,  or  those  that  have  come 
from  the  Konkan  Coast,  being  natives  of  the  Konkana 
country  now  in  the  Bombay  Presidency.  They  belong 

to  the  Ssraswata  section  of  the  Gouda  Brahmans  as 

» 

distinguished  from  the  Dravida  Brahmans  proper  who 
inhabit  South  India.  There  are,  among  the  Konka¬ 
nies,  Brahmans,  Vaisyas  and  Sudras.  Ethnically,  the 
Konkan  Brahmans  may  be  classed  as  belonging  to  the 
Aryan  stock.  They  are  a  tall,  handsome  race  with 
fair  complexion,  regular  features,  thin  lips,  prominent 
nose,  and  broad  chest.  They  are  said  to  take  their 
class  name  of  Ssraswatans  from  their  Guru,  or  first 
preceptor,  Saraswata.  The  claim  to  have  originally 
inhabited  Trihatapura,  the  modern  Tirhut  in  Behar, 
whence  tradition  says  that  Parasu  Rama  brought  ten 
families  whom  he  settled  at  Gomantaka,  the  modern 
Goa,  Panchakrosi  and  Kusasthali.  Others  soon  fol- 

9 

lowed  and  the  whole  population  settled  themselves  in 
60  villages  and  96  hamlets  in  and  around  Goa.  When 
Goa  was  captured  by  Vijayanagara,  they  placed  them¬ 
selves  under  the  protection  of  the  Hindu  Kings  of 
Vijayanagar,  But,  not  long  after,  the  Portuguese  ap¬ 
peared  on  the  scene  and  captured  Goa.  The  commer¬ 
cial  prosperity  that  the  community  enjoyed  under  the 


THE  LATE  MR.  HARI  SHENOY. 

(Was  a  leader  of  his  Community  and  for  a 
long  time  the  Managing  Trustee  of  the 
Cochin  Thirumala  Devasvom). 


[  To  face  p.  610 


THE  CANARESE 


611 


N.  8.] 

Hindu  Kings  continued  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  cen¬ 
tury  more  under  their  Christian ,  masters.  King  John 
of  Portugal,  the  successor  of  King  Emmanuel,  who 
established  the  Portuguese  Empire  in  India,  was  sud¬ 
denly  seized  with  a  religious  frenzy  for  the  propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  his  Indian  dominions,  and  no  measures, 
fair  or  foul,  were  left  untried  to  convert  the  Hindus  to 
Christianity.  An  order  was  issued  for  the  forcible 
conversion  of  all  those  round  Goa  on  pain  of  a  general 
massacre.  A  humane  Governor  took  pity  on  the  poor 
suffering  Hindus  and  gave  previous  intimation  of  the 
enforcement  of  the  order,  so  that  those  who  were  so 
minded  may  leave  the  place.  A  large  number  of  Kon¬ 
kanies  took  advantage  of  the  kindly  warning  and  ran 
to  neighbouring  places.  With  the  establishment  of  the 
inquisition  in  Goa,  they  deserted- their  houses  and  went 
into  voluntary  exile.  A  large  body  of  them  fled  to  the 
south  and  made  settlements  in  the  Travancore,  Cochin 
and  Calicut.  The  rapacity  of  the  Zamorin  drove  the 
settlers  still  further  south  into  the  Cochin  and  Travan¬ 
core  States.  The  main  body  settled  in  Cochin. 

In  Cochin,  ■  they  found  a  congenial  home  and 
set  themselves  out,  at  once,  to  better  their  condi* 
tion.  Their  natural  aptitude  for  trade  had  scope 
for  full  play,  and  the  Rajas  of  Cochin  extended 
their  protection  and  sympathy  to  the  community.  On 
the  advent  of  the  Dutch,  they  placed  themselves  under 
the  protection  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company* 
as  the  Raja  had  latterly  begun  to  molest  them  at  the 
instigation  of  the  Portuguese  who  never,  bore  goodwill 
towards  them.  We  have  seen  that  the  first  act  of  the 
Portuguese  on  the  retirement  of  the  Dutch  squadron 
from  Cochin  after  the  first  attack  was  to  sack  the 
quarters  of  the  Konkanies  on  the  plea  that  they  had 
assisted  the  Dutch.  On  the  Dutch  becoming  supreme 
in  Cochin,  the  East  India  Company  at  once  took  the 
Konkanies  under  its  special  protection.  One  of  them 
was  appointed  the  Company’s  merchant,  •  and  special 
privileges  were  granted  to  him.  We  have  also  seen 


612  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  jL.  22. 

that  the  murder  of  one  of  the  Company’s  merchants 
Malappa'by  name,  by  the  Paliyat  Achchen  had  caused 
considerable  friction  between  the  Company  and  the 
Raja.  The  Konkanies  lived  in  the  suburbs  of  Cochin, 
known  as  Chellai  and  Amaravati.  The  ground  occu¬ 
pied  by  these  localities  had  in  olden  times  been  the 
esplanade  of  the  fort  which  was  made  over  to  the  Dutch 
by  the  Cochin  Raja  in  1663. 

In  1772,  disputes  arose  between  the  Raja  and  the 
Dutch  regarding  the  right  of  the  Dutch  to  collect  the 
revenues  around  Cochin.  A  convention  was  held  and 
the  following  terms  were  finally  agreed  to  by  the  Dutch 
Governor.  11  From  this  day  forward  as  long  as  the 
Government  of  Cochin  exists,  I  do  cede  and  transfer, 
unto  you  and  your  descendants,  the  right  of  collecting 
the  income  from  Mattancheri  and  Chellaye.  To  collect 
the  farms  and  customs  of  Amaravaty  and  to  conduct  the 
affairs  of  Mattancherri,  Chellaye,  and  of  the  Konkanies 
and  their  temple.”  But,  along  with  this,  there  was  also 
the  following  understanding,  “  that  the  Raja  shall 
impose  no  new  demands  upon  the  Konkanies,  that  they 
shall  have  full  liberty  to  complain  to  the  Dutch  Gover¬ 
nor  if  aggrieved,  and  that  the  Raja  shall  not  interfere 
in  any  matters  of  the  temple,  without  the  knowledge 
and  consent  of  the  Company”.  In  spite  of  these  special 
reservations,  the  Raja  was  not  slow  to  oppress  the 
Konkanies  as  opportunities  occurred.  In  1791,  the  Raja 
directed  the  Konkaiji  Pagoda  to  contribute  a  large 
quantity  of  molasses  (Sugarcane-Jaggery)  towards  a 
feast  at  Trppunittura.  On  the  Trustees  refusing  to 
meet  the  demand,  two  of  the  Raja’s  Eurasian  officers, 
accompanied  by  a  Kariakar,  went  to  the  shop  of  Deva- 
rasa  Kini,  one  of  the  Pagoda  Trustees,  got  in  on  the 
pretence  of  having  gone  to  purchase  some  silks  and 
had  his  head  cut  off  and  carried  away  to  the  Raja.  The 
Raja’s  troops  then  made  a  rush  on  the  Konkand  Bazaar 
and  sacked  it.  The  priests  of  the  temple,  hearing  the 
tumult  outside,  hastily  removed  the  idol  and  its  jewels 
in  a  box  and  sought  refuge  under  the  guns  of  the  Dutch 


THE  CANARESE 


N.  9.] 


613 


fort.  The  Raja  further  loaded  the  Konkanies  with 
new  imposts  against  the  spirit  of  the  convention  of  1772 
with  the  Dutch.  The  Cochin  Council  resisted  the 
attempts  of  the  Raja  to  encroach  on  Dutch  privileges. 
The  English  who  were  gradually  displacing  the  Dutch 
from  Malabar  espoused  the  Raja’s  side,  but  eventually 
the  Raja  gave  way  and  adniitted  the  right  of  the  Dutch 
protection  over  the  Konkanies. 


9.  Canarese  live  near  forts.  The  Canarese 
were  under  the  special  protection  of  the  Dutch,  and 
this  protection  says  Governor  Moens,-  “is  a  little  dif¬ 
ferent  from  the  protection  the  Company  exercises  over 
the  Christians,  and  relates  more  to  the  differences  as 
citizens.”  After  referring  to  the  settlement  of  the 
disputes  regarding  the  right  of  levying  tolls  in  Mattan- 
cherri  and  Cheilai,  M.  Moens  observes,  “At  any  rate, 
the  Company  has  exercised  since  that  time,  through 
this  policy,  even  more  authority  over  the  Canarese 
than  it  had  before,  and  the  King  had  never  made  any 
objections  ;  possibly  because  discretion  was  used,  and 
because  it  was  that  the  King  was  quite  satisfied  with 
being  thought  to  have  authority  over  the  Canarese. 
For  although  authority  over  these  people  in  the 
settling  of  their  cases  is  left  to  the  King  with  cer¬ 
tain  restrictions,  and  especially  with  this,  namely,  that 
they  may  make  complaints  against  the  King  to  the 
Honourable  Company,  yet  it  is  necessary  for  us  to 
claim  every  now  and  then  the  supreme  authority  over 
the  same,  which  we  reserve  to  ourselves  specially  in 
cases,  in  which  it  is  noticed  that  the  Canarese  do  not 
get  their  rights  from  the  King,  either  in  case  of  debt 
or  other  disputes,  in  order  that  it  may  be  clear  to  all, 
that  right  and  justice  are  practised  by  the  Company.” 
The  Dutch  Government  justifies  this  on  the  ground 
that  “with  the  native  authorities  money  goes  a  great 
way  in  obtaining  a  favourable  decision.”  The  Canarese 
mixed  much  with  the  people.  They  did  much  retailing 
in  the  streets  like  the  Chetties  and  Moors  of  Ceylon 
and  the  common  Jews  in  the  Netherlands*  “They  are 


6U 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L:  22. 


here”  continues  M.  Moens,  “absolutely  necessary,  and 
almost  the  whole  of  the  retail  trade  is  in  their  hands. 
They  sell  even  the  smallest  articles.  The  necessaries 
of  life  (except  live-stock,  because  trading  therein  is 
against  their  religion  and,  therefore,  the  black  Jews  take 
them  to  the  market)  can  be  had  almost  only  from  them. 
For  this  purpose  they  possess  in  their  neighbourhood, 
not  far  from  town,  a  bazaar,  and  besides  everywhere,  if 
there  is  but  a  little  space,  anywhere  outside  or  inside 
the  town,  little  stalls.  In  this  way  they  buy  and  sell 
daily,  exchanging,  lending  or  borrowing  goes  on  both 
among  white  and  black  people,  and  hence  it  is  but 
natural,  that  through  all  this  questions  and  complaints 
certainly  arise,  which  become  at  times  such  a  muddle 
that  the  greatest  patience  is  required  To  discover  the 
origin  of  the  dispute.  In  fine  the  Canarese  are  com¬ 
pletely  mixed  up  with  our  inhabitants:  they  with  their 
affairs  and  complaints  cannot  be  entrusted  to  a  Court, 
where  for  gifts  and  presents  one  can  obtain  a  sentence 
according  to  one’s  liking.  And  as  these  people  here  are 
a  Medium  necessarium  it  is  necessary  to  procure  them 
their  rights,  but  to  punish  severely  if  they  are  caught 
arranging  a  monopoly  or  intriguing  with  slaves,  cheat¬ 
ing  or  committing  frauds.  With  regard  to  other  cases, 
which  have  reference  to  old  customs  and  privileges  of  the 
King,  e.g.,  the  small  revenue  of  their  bazaar  outside  the 
town,  the  administration  of  their  pagoda  or  temple,  the 
part  of  the  inheritance,  which  after  death  goes  to  the 
King,  we  ought  not  to  listen  to  the  Canarese  but 
reject  them  at  once,  as  affairs,  in  which  they  cannot 
hope  for  a  change  or  assistance.” 

io.  Two  classes  of  Canarese.  Religion .  As 
the  majority  of  the  Konkanies  are  Vaishnavites, 
the  Vishnavite  sect  mark  find  singular  predominance. 
The  Go  pi  is  the  mark  that  has  to  be  worn  on  the 
forehead.  But  till  U panayanam  a  boy  is  not  to  wear 
this  n^rk,  but  merely  an  impress  of  Vishnu’s  Su- 
darsana  (  disc  )  on  the  chest.  The  Vysias  being 
Saivites  put  on  only  Vibhu|i  (  holy  ashes ).  The 


TWO  CLASSES  OF  CANARESE 


615 


N.  io.] 

Konka^ies  are  mostly  Vaishnavites,  being  followers 
of  MadhvSchsrya.  There  are  very  few  Smaftas  or 
Saivites  or  followers  of  Sankarschsrya  among  them. 
Their  chief  deity  is  Venketaramana  of  Tiruppaji  (Tri- 
ppathy)  or  shrine  to  which  they  make  pilgrimages.  In 
Malabar  they  have  their  own  temples  and  priests. 
Their  temples,  known  as  Konkani  Mukkalvattam  in 
Malayalam,  are  generally  styled  Tirumala  Devaswams , 
and  are  managed  by  trustees  chosen  from  among  the 
community  itself.  These  temples  are  said  to  be  so 
called  as  the  divinity  that  resides  on  the  sacred  hill 
(Tirumala)  is  represented  in  each.  It  is  also  suggested 
that  they  take  the  name  after  Tirumala  one  of  the 
Kings  of  Vijayanagara  to  which  dynasty  they  were  once 
subject.  Some  of  these  temples  are  very  rich,  such  as 
the  one  in  Cochin  and  those  at  Toravur  and  Alleppy 
in  Travancore.  Their  religious  services  do  not  differ 
much  from  those  of  the  other  Brahmans  in  South 

l 

India. 

The  origin  and  history  of  the  Bimbam  or  image 
installed  in  their  great  Pagoda  situate  in  Cochin  is  not 
simply  interesting  in  itself,  it  also  throws  a  flood  of 
light  on  their  position  in  Cochin,  politically  and 
socially.  It  is  thus  related  by  Day: — “Up  to  1589, 
they  possessed  in  Cochin  a  small  metal  idol  and,  in  that 
year,  their  High  Priest,  Coombaconum  Madum  Swa- 
miyar  visited  the  place,  bringing  with  him  a  Bhimmum, 
before  which  he  performed  his  private  devotions. 
Having  remained  about  six  months,  he  prepared  to  de¬ 
part  but,  at  every  attempt  to  leave,  he  became  seriously 
ill.  Alarmed  at  this,  the  soothsayers  were  consulted, 
and  they  discovered,  that  his  little  god  has  taken  such 
a  fancy  to  Cochin,  that  he  declined  to  leave  the  place. 
The  Swamiyar  then  offered  to  give  up  the  Bhimmum, 
provided  he  were  given  as  many  Venetian  gold  sequins 
as  would  cover  the  image  when  placed  in  a  large  salver. 
This  was  acceded  to,  but  as  fast  as  they  heaped  up  the 
money,  the  higher  grew  the  idol’s  head,  until  all  the 


616 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  22. 

sequins  in  Cochin  were  expended.  Again  soothsayers 
were  consulted,  and  they  discovered  that,  although  the 
Bhimmum  wished  to  reside  in  Cochin,  he  had  an 
aversion  to  lose  sight  of  his  former  master  and  his 
family;  so  a  contract  was  drawn  up,  in  which  the 
Pagoda  worshippers  stipulated,  that  they  would  always 
obey  the  Swamiyar  or  one  of  his  family  as  High  Priest, 
and  that  his  decendants  should  have  the  right  to  per¬ 
form  three  day’s  devotion  yearly,  in  the  Pagoda. 

“The  Bhimmum  therefore  remained  peaceably  in 
Cochin  until  about  1719,  when  it  miraculously  dis¬ 
appeared,  and  was  found  on  the  sea  beach,  and  taken 
to  the  house  of  the  Dutch  Governor.  He  saw  nothing 
but  a  little  misshapen  figure,  apparently  composed  of 
an  admixture  of  gold,  silver  and  other  metals;  and 
thinking  it  of  little  value,  gave  it  to  his  children  as  a 
plaything.  But  hardly  it  reached  the  house,  when  the 
Governor’s  wife  was  attacked  with  severe  colic,  which 
did  not  cease,  until  the  idol  had  left  their  roof,  and  ob¬ 
tained  shelter  in  the  house  of  a  native  doctor.  The  poor 
man  as  well  as  his  family  were  tormented  with  illhessfor 
seven  years,  when  it  was  fortunately  discovered  that  the 
idol  was  the  cause  of  his  misfortunes,  and  that  it  was  the 
long  lost  Bhimmum.  Again  it  reached  the  Pagoda, 
where  it  rested  quietly  until  1791,  in  which  year  the 
Raja  of  Cochin  directed  the  Pagoda  to  contribute  a 
large  quantity  of  sugar-cane  jaggery,  towards  a  feast 
a^  Trippunittura.  The  trustees  refused,  one  of  them 
being  Dagwars  Kini,  and  the  “Dagwars  Kini  war”,  as 
it  is  termed,  ensued.  About  the  third  week  in  Sep^ 
tember,  two  of  the  Raja’s  Eurasian  officers,  accompan¬ 
ied  by  a  Ragiadoor,  went  to  Dagwar’s  Kini's  shop,  and 
stated  that  they  required  some  silks;  but  while  serving 
them,  he  was  murdered,  his  head  cut  off,  and  carried 
away  to  the  Raja;  whose  troops  made  a  rush  upon  the 
Canarese  bazaar.  The  priests  hearing  the  uproar 
hastily  deposited  the  idol  and  its  jewels  in  a  box  and 
sought  refuge  under  the  guns  of  the  Dutch  fort,  inside 


N.  io.]  TWO  CLASSES  OF  CANARESE  617 

which  the  Bhimmum  was  placed.  Fearing  it  might 
be  given  up  by  the  Dutch,  they  the  next  day  sent  it  by 
a  canoe  to  Chellana,  and  about  a  month  subsequently 
to  Alleppey,  where  the  Travancore  Raja  permitted  it 
to  be  placed  in  an  Oottupurah  where  it  remained  secure¬ 
ly  guarded  for  many  years. 

“As  soon  as  the  British  supremacy  had  caused 
tranquillity,  it  was  proposed  to  build  a  large  temple  at 
Cochin,  and  again  install  the  Bhimmum  there.  They 
believed  that  it  was  owing  to  the  good  will  manifested 
by  the  idol  that  Cochin  had  become  a  prosperous  place; 
still  they  agreed  that,  if  a  Pagoda  were  built  at  Allep¬ 
pey,  and  lands  yielding  Rupees.  12,000  yearly  given  as 
an  endowment,  they  would  let  it  remain  there;  and 
these  terms  were  acceded  to  by  the  Raja  of  Travancore. 
The  importance  of  Alleppey  is  now  decreasing,  which 
is  attributed  by  the  Hindus,  to  the  Cochin  Pagoda 
having  regained  possession  of  the  idol,  owing  to  the 
Bhimmum  having  been  conveyed  out  of  the  Alleppey 
Pagoda,  in  the  bread  basket  of  a  Cochin  Brahman  and 
thus  reached  its  old  abode.  It  is  usual  after  the  Brah¬ 
mans  /have  been  feasted,  inside  the  Pagoda,  for  the 
remainder  of  the  food,  to  be  carried  outside  in  long 
baskets,  where  persons  are  awaiting  their  shares  of  the 
precious  morsels.  In  February  1853,  after  the  feast,  a 
Cochin  Brahman  concealed  the  God  in  one  of  these 
baskets  and  thus  it  was  conveyed  out  of  the  Temple, 
and  was  soon  placed  in  a  boat,  and  rapidly  propelled  to 
Cochin.  Early  the  following  morning,  great  was  the 
dismay  at  Alleppey,  the  image  had  disappeared  and  the 
Travancore  Government  protested  that  the  Coehin 
people  had  robbed  Alleppey  of  its  chief  treasure. 
Communications  at  last  led  to  angry  recriminations  and 
in  1856  troops  were  ordered  from  Quilon,  to  march  to¬ 
wards  Cochin,  and  compel  the  restitution  of  the  highly 
prized  idol. 

“The  Cochin  Dewan  now  offered  to  return  it;  this 
was  acceded  to;  a  day  was  chosen,  on  which*  to  receive 
it  and  a  portion  of  the  Nair  Brigade  was  in  readiness 


B18  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

0 

to  meet  it  with  all  honours  at  Alleppey.  At  last,  on 
January  28th,  1857,  the  boat  hove  in  sight  and  the 
Priests  met  at  the  landing  place.  Having  broken  a 
cocoanut  the  chief  Brahman  making  profound  Salams 
entered  the  cabin,  but  soon  in  wrath  and  disgust  re¬ 
appeared,  declaring  the  image  was  a  spurious  one, 
dressed  up  in  the  true  jewels.  Having  deposited  it  in 
the  verandah  of  the  Pagoda,  another  letter  was  des¬ 
patched  to  Cochin,  and  another  idol  declared  to  be  the 
true  one,  was  sent  on  January  31st,  1857,  but  was  as 
false  as  the  first.  Finally  in  1859  the  Madras  Gdvern- 
ment  settled  this  important  question,  by  deciding  that 
as  the  idol  had  originally  deserted  from  Cochin,  and  had 
now  returned  to  that  place,  there  it  was  to  remain1 
whilst  the  Travancore  officials  are  said  to  have  finish¬ 
ed  the  business,  by  resuming  the  lands  they  had 
granted,  for  the  idol’s  support”2. 

11.  Sancaratchar.  The  life  and  work  of 
Sri  Sankaracharya  are  of  as  much  importance  in  the 
religious  and  social  history  of  Malabar  as  those  of  Sri 
Parasu  Rama,  the  Patron  Saint  of  Keraia,  and  it  is 
therefore  necessary  to  know  something' of  them. 

Sri  Sankaracharya,3  the  great  Adwaita  philoso¬ 
pher  and  religious  reformer  of 
His  Life.  India,  a  Nambutiri,  was  born  in 

788  A.  D.  in  Kaippilli  illom  (4)  at 
Kalati,  (5)  a  small  village  on  the  banks  of  the  Alwaye 

(1)  See  Minutes  of  Consultation.  Fort  St.  George,  24th 
August  1858- 

(2)  Day,  pp,  309 — 312. 

(3)  For  the  following  note  on  Sankaracharya,  I  am  indebted  to 
my  friend  Mr.P.  Krishna  Menon,  B.  A.,L.  T.,  to  whom  my  thanks 
are  due. 

(4)  “Exjactly  a  thousand  years  before  his  Spiritual  Kinsman 
Schanpenhauer”  as  Professor  Deussen  puts  it. 

(See  outline  of  the  Vedanta  System  of  Philosophy  according  to 
Shankara  by  Paul  Deusseu.  Translated  by  J.  H.  Woods  and 
C.  B.  Runkle  with  Prefatory  note  by  the  Author.) 

(5)  'Fhe  insignificant  village  of  Kalati  had  been  left  unnoticed 
and  neglected  hitherto. 


N.  ii.]  SRI  SANKARACIIARYA  619 

river,  six  miles  to  the  east  of  Alwaye,  a  station  on  the 
Cochin  State  Railway.  The  place  is  now  situated  in 
the  Manjappra  Proverthy  of  the  Kunnattunad  Talyk 
of  the  Travancore  State;  but,  at  the  time  of  the  Guru’s 
birth,  and  until  946  M.  E.,  it  formed  part  of  the 
Cochin  State.  The  river  in  that  part  abounded  in 
crocodiles,  one  of  which  was,  according  to  tradition, 
the  immediate  means  of  the  Teacher’s  renunciation  of 
the  world  and  entrance  into  the  Order  of  the  Sannya- 
sins,  a  boon  his  mother  was  forced  to  give,  in  order  to 
save  the  future  great  seer  and  philosopher  from  the 
jaws  of  a  ravenous  amphibian.  The  place  where  the 
blessed  lady  was  is  still  shown  to  the  pious  pilgrim  who 
wends  his  way  to  the  sacred  spot. 

Sivaguru,  Sankara’s  father,  having  died  before 
the  sage’s  birth,  the  Teacher  was  born  a  posthumous 
child  and  his  early  education  devolved  011  the  shoulders 
of  his  maternal  uncle.  The  following  Slokas  (verses) 
embodying  a  well-known  traditional  account  of  Sankar’s 
Life,  in  Sanskrit,  are  both  interesting  and  instructive; 
as,  besides  giving  us  the  chief  incidents  in  his  life  time, 
they  serve  as  a  clue  to  the  solution  of  the  question  of 
his?  date. 

pu§ht2chara  Vinasaya 
Pradurbhuto  Mahl^aie 
Sa  Eva  Sankarachsrya 
Sak§hal  Kaivallya  Nsyakah ! 

Nidhinage  Bhavanyabde 
Vibhave  Sankarodayah 
Ashtavarshe  Cha^urvedSn 
Dv\2c}3se  Sarvasa'strakrit 
Shodase  Kritavan  BhSshyam 
JpwStrimse  Munirabhyagsl 
Kallyabde  ChandranetrSnka 
Vanhyabde  Guhsprevesah 
VaisSkhe  Purijim^Smtu- 
Sankara  Sivatamagat* 

*  See  the  Travancore  State  Manual  by  Mr.VYNagam  Aiya 
Vol,  II.,  Chap.  VIII,  pt  99. 


620  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  2  2  . 

“He  the  same  Sankaracharya,  verily  God  Himself 
(or,  The  Abode  of  Bliss  Incarnate)manifested  Himself 
on  earth  for  the  extermination  of  wicked  ways.  The* 
advent  of  Sankara  was  in  the  year  called  Vibhava  3889 
of  Kali  Era  {i.  e.  788  A.  D.).  He  studied  in  (his) 
eighth  year  the  four  Vedas.  He  mastered  all  the 
Sa>tras  in  his  twelfth  year.  In  his  sixteenth  year,  he 
composed  the  Bhashya  (commentaries  on  the  Gita,  the 
Upanishads  and  Brahma  Sutras).  In  his  thirty-second 
year  the  sage  ascended  (tfyfe  seat  of  Learning).  In  the 
year  3922  of  the  Kali  Era  (821  A.  D.)  he  entered  the 
cave;  and  on  the  full-moon  day  of  the  Vaishakha  of  the 
same  year  Sankara  attained  Supreme  bliss.’* 

From  the  above  account  certain  important  facts 
may  be  deduced — namely—-i.  that  Sankara  was  born 
in  788  A.  D.  as  held  by  Professors  Max  Muller, 
Sundram  Pillai  and  others;  (2)  that  he  was  the  author 
of  the  BhSshya;  (3)  that  he  went  to  Kashmir  and 
ascended  the  seat  of  Learning;  and  (4)  .that  he  died  in 
his  thirty-second  year  or  821  A.  D- 

The  tradition  that  the  death  of  Sankara  synchro¬ 
nized  with  the  commencement  of  the  Kollam  Era,  u  e ., 
825  A.  D.,  may  have  some  substantial  basis  in  fact,  as 
it  is  not  difficult  to  believe  that  the  news  of  his  death 
which  occurred  at  Kedarnath  on  the  Himalayas  took 
about  three  years  to  reach  Malabar  at  a  time  when  all 
travelling  was  done  on  foot. 

One  important  event  in  the  life  of  Sankara  was  his 
initiation  intoThe  SannyasSSrama  by  Govinda  Bhatta. 
Goudapada's  desciple,  somewhere  near  the  banks  of 
the  Narmada.  After  this,  he  went  to  Benares  where 
he  wrote  his  famous  commentaries  on  the  Prasthha • 
nathraya — the  Gita,  the  Upanishads  and  the  VedSnJa 
Sutras.  Then  commenced  his  famous  itinerancy  or 
cbntroversial  tour  through  the  length  and  breadth  of 
.India.  He  preached  pure  Adwaitism  as  inculcated  in 
the  well-known  Vedantic  aphorisms.  Ekam  gvr 
advitiyam*  (one  only,  without  a  second);  'Jattwam 
(1)  Chandogyopani&had  VI,  2,  1. 


N.  n.] 


SRI SANKARACHARYA 


621 


asi1  (That  thou  art);  Sarvam  Khalvidam  brahma  2 
(All  this  is  verily  Brahman  );  Aham  Brahma  asmi  3 
(I  am  Brahman);  and  many  others  of  a  like  import. 
Sankara’s  victorious  tour  took  him  to  such  distant 
places  as  Balkh  and  the  frontiers  of  Afghanistan  on  the 
west,  Kashmir  and  Cis-Himalayan  regions  in  the 
North,  Assam  on  the  east,  and  Chola  and  Psridya  in 
the  South,  that  to  this  day  his  name  is  affectionately  in¬ 
voked  by  his  followers  as  “the  best  of  peripatetic 
teachers”,  In  one  of  these  tours,  when  he  was  at 
Sringeri  in  Mysore,  he  heard  of  the  illness  of  his 
mother  and  so  he  hastened  to  Malabar  to  be  nearer  her 
*n  her  last  moments.  The  biographer  says  that,  after 
her  death,  Sankara  had  to  preform  obsequies  himself, 
unaided  by  the  formalist  Nambutiris  of  the  day,  who 
objected  to  the  Guru’s  performance  of  these  on  the 
grounds  of  his  being  a  Sannyssin  4.  The  ingenuity 
of  the  priesthood  has  not  failed  to  take  advantage  of  thjs, 
and  the  institution  of  the  well-known  sixty-four  Anacna- 
ras  or  peculiar  usages  of  Kerala  has  been  purposely 
fathered  upon  the  sacred  name  of  Sankara  to  give  them 
an  authority  and  sanction  which  they  would  otherwise 
have  never  had.  We  shall  return  to  the  consideration 
of  the  authenticity  of  this  tradition  in  a  later  part  of 
this  thesis. 

The  story  of  Sankara’s  having  met  KumSrilla 
Bhatta,  the  hoary  advocate  of  Purva  Mlmamsa  of 
Northern  India,  is  not  of  much  historical  value,  but 
the  incident  of  Sankara’s  long  controversies  with 
Mandana  Misra,  and  his  wife  Bbaraji—  supposed  to 
be  an  incarnation  of  the  Goddess  of  Learning— -is 
interesting,  as  it  afterwards  led  to  the  conversion  of 
Mandana  and  his  initiation,  under  the  name  of  SureS- 
warachsrya,  into  the  SannySsa  Order, 

(j)  Chandogyopanishad  VI,  S,  7. 

(2)  Ibid  HI,  14,  1. 

(3)  Brishadarnyakopanishad,  1,  4,  10. 

(4)  Madhava’s  Sankaravijaya,  Poona  Edition,  pp,  496—7. 


622  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22 

The  legend  that  Sankara  persecuted  the  Bud¬ 
dhists  is  entirely  unsupported  by  facts,  and  we  shall  not 
stop  to  examine  it.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  possible> 
even  highly  probable  that  Sankaracharya  by  his  power¬ 
ful  and  irresistible  advocacy  of  theism  and  the  moral 
trustworthiness  of  the  universe,  as  opposed  to  the 
Buddhistic  doctrines  of  Nihilism  and  final  annihilation 
current  at  the  time,  contributed  more  than  any  other 
man  to  the  final  extirpation  of  the  rival  faith  from  the 
land  of  its  birth. 

Sankara  had  no  great  respect  for  mere  beok  learn¬ 
ing  as  such,  and  the  pedantry  of  the  scholiast,  and  his 
“Exhortation  to  a  Grammarian”  with  its  musical 
refrain  of  “worship  the  all  merciful  God  (Govind)”,  is 
one  of  the  most  trenchant  criticisms  on  those  who  seek 
to  cram  their  memory  with  the  dry  bones  of  knowledge 
without  seeking  true  enlightenment  and.  spiritual 
vision  at  the  same  time. 

While  travelling  in  north-eastern  India,  he  passed 
through  Assam  where  he  was  attacked  by  a  disease 
said  to  have  been  due  to  Black  Magic  practised  by 
Abhinava  Gupta,  the  commentator  on  Sakta  works, 
who  was ’defeated  by  Sankara  in  controversy.  Although 
partially  cured,  the  teacher  never  recovered  fully  from 
the  effects  of  the  attack  and  going  to  the  Himalayas, 
he  died  at  Kedarnath,  in  his  thirty-second  year,  in 
821  A.  D. 

Kalati  was  left  neglected  up  till  recently.  But 
the  occupant  of  the  Sringeri  Seat,  the  33rd  in  suc¬ 
cession  from  its  founder,  the  Adi  SankaracharySr, 
revived  it  by  improving  the  site  and  establishing  a 
temple  for  the  worship  of  Sankara.  Kalati  is  but  an 
obscure  village  in  North  Travancore;  and  so  other  towns 
of  celebrity,  such  as  Conjeevaram  and  Chidambaram 
have  put  forth  claims  of  having  given  birth  to  the  great 
teacher.  Anandagiri  mentions  Chidambaram,  while 
the  writer  of  Ma^imafinary  gives  it  as  Kslaji  and  “his 


SRI  SANKARACHARYA 


623 


N.  ii.] 

testimony  in  such  matters  1  must  be  held  peculiarly 
valuable  for  obvious  reasons”.  The  Kaippilli  illom  to 
which  Sankara  belonged  had  in  its  possession  till  recently 
a  plot  of  ground  which  his  mother  is  said  to  have  obtain¬ 
ed  in  her  life-time.  Her  crematorium  is  in  it.  The 
Travancore  Government  acquired  this  plot  on  27th 
January  1906.  The  locality  is  treated  as  a  Samketam 
or  place  of  sanctity,  none  but  high  caste  Hindus  being 
allowed  to  reside  or  to  acquire  land  within  the  Samke-* 
tarn. 

After  the  acquisition  of  the  plot,  the  Travancore 
Government  has  transferred  it  to  the  Sringeri  Mutt  for 
the  erection  of  a  temple  for  Sri  Sankaracharya.  Two 
beautiful  temples  one  to  Sri  Adi  Sankaracharya  and 
the  other  to  the  Mutt’s  tutelary  deity  Saradamba  have  I 
been  built,  and  a  magnificent  flight  of  steps  leading  to 
the  river.  The  consecration  of  the  temples  was  perform¬ 
ed  on  Monday  the  10th  of  Kumbham  1085  M.  E,s  cor¬ 
responding  tothe2istof  February  1910,  in  the  presence 
of  no  less  than  forty  thousand  devotees  who  had  come 
from  all  parts  of  India. 

The  land  of  Kerala  has  to  be  remembered  and  its 
memory  dearly  cherished  by  the  whole  civilised  world 
for  having  given  birth  to  so  great  a  teacher  as  the 
great  Sankaracharya. 


Sri  Sankaracharya  was  a  practical  retoimer.  He 

was  not  content  with  giving,  from  his 
His  work  point,  a  mere  theoretical  interpre¬ 

own  Adwaitic  or  Non-dualistic  stand- 
tation  of  the  ancient  Aryan  religion 
and  philosophy.  He  instituted  Mutts,  AdwaitSsramas 
or  monasteries  for  the  teaching  and  propagation  of  the 
principle  of  the  Oneness  of  Life  in  some  of  the  most 
important  places  in  India— at  Sringeri  in  Mysore,  at 
Puri  in  Orissa,  at  Badari  on  the  Himalayas  (where  a 

1  Mr.  C.  N.  Krishnaswami  Ayyar,  M.  A.,  L.  T.t  in  his  Sree 
Sankaracharya.  His  Life  and  'Times,  p.  13. 


624  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

Nambutiri  Brahmin  has  been  an  officiating  priest  ever 
since  Sankara’s  time)  and  Dwaraka  in  the  Gaikwar’s 
Dominions  in  Gujarat.  It  is  this  aspect  of  Sankara’s 
character — the  combination  of  the  subtle,  hair-splitting, 
speculative  philosopher  and  the  clear-eyed,  practical 
reformer  that  is  the  most  wonderful  feature  of  his  sub¬ 
lime  personality.  In  his  merciless  insistence  on  keep¬ 
ing  strictly  to  the  exact  definition  of  a  term,  and  on 
unravelling  the  intricacies  of  an  argument  so  as  to  find 
out  the  lurking  fallacies  in  it,  he  is  as  great  as  Socrates 
or  Aristotle,  if  not  greater.  In  his  appeal  to  our  Sas- 
tras  (in  the  wider  sense)  as  the  final  repository  of  the 
possible  .spiritual  experiences  of  the  race,  he  out-plato- 
ed  Plato  whose  “Doctrine  of  Ideas”  pales  before 
Sankara’s  Theory  of  Maya  as  a  mere  well-thought-out 
guess.  There  is  no  other  character  in  History,  ancient 
or  modern,  in  whom  the  thinker  and  the  doer  have 
been  so  happily  combined  as  Sri  Sankaracharya;  and 
there  is  no  other  personality  whose  work  as  both 
thinker  and  doer  has  had  such  an  abiding  influence  for 
good.  But  for  Sri  Sankaracharya,  Hinduism  would 
have  been  a  fossil  religion  now,  like  many  other  reli¬ 
gions  of  the  past,  and  the  world  of  thought  would  have 
been  poorer  for  lack  of  its  most  powerful  champion  in 
the  cause  of  philosophic  theism. 

Again,  by  his  commentaries  on  the  Three  Pras - 
thanas ,  and  by  his  preachings,  he  not  merely  revived 
the  ancient  religion  of  the  Aryans,  but  he  also  gave  a 
new  life  to  the  various  sects  existing  at  the  time,  such 
as  the  Ganapatyas,  the  Saktas,  the  Souryas,  etc.,  by 
supplying  them  with  a  new  interpretation  of  their  vary¬ 
ing  beliefs.  All  were  asked  to  see  behind  Manifested 
Nature  and  the  Unmanifested  Personal  Deities  of  the 
sects,  One  Unmanifested  Being,  that  which  is  “beyond 
the  veil”  in  the  language  of  Tennyson,  or  “avyaktovy- 
akta£\  in  the  language  of  Bhagavad  Gita .  Hence  he 
was  not  merely  a  revivalist,  but  a  purifier  as  well.  He 
condemned  the  despicable  practices  of  the  Kapalikas 
of  Western  India  and  of  the  Saktas  at  Kamrup  in  Assam 


SANKARACHARYA 


625 


N.  ii J 

and  at  Ksnchi  in  South  India.  Hence  he  composed 
after  his  return  to  Kerala  that  magnificent  poem  Anan- 
dalahari,  or  bliss  intoxicant,  which  is  the  most  superb 
“Hymn  to  Intellectual  Beauty”  extant  in  the  world, 
which  gives  an  aesthetic  interpretation  of  the  universe 
in  some  of  its  recondite  aspects,  and  which  follows,  in 
the  very  first  stanza,  the  interpretation  which  the  posi¬ 
tion  of  the  images  in  the  northern  shrine  of  the 
temple  at  Trichur,  is  designed  to  give  to  the  ardent 
truth-seeker. 

The  Anachars  of  Malabar.  According  to  the 
KSrafotpatti,  the  sixty-four  AnScharas  or  peculiar 
usages  of  Malabar,  already  enumerated  in  a  former  note, 
were  promulgated  by  Sankarschsrya  when  he  was  not 
assisted  by  the  Namputiris  in  the  cremation  of  his 
mother’s  dead  body. 

If  we  want  to  understand,  to  get  into  the  spirit  of, 
these  Anscharas,  we  should  do  well  to  classify  them 
under  certain  headings  as  follows  : — 1 

1.  Rules  regarding  personal  hygiene .  Under  this 
head  will  come  numbers  i,  2,  3,  4,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  11,  12, 
22,  28  ; 

2.  Rules  regarding  eating.  We  may  include  in 
this  group  Anacharas  Nos.  5,  15,  16,  17,  18,  21,  27; 

3.  Rules  regarding  the  worship  of  the  Gods  and 
the  Manes .  This  class  consists  of  Nos.  13,  14,  19.  20, 
3U  32,  33*  34*  35*  3b  37*  38.  39*  50,  52,  60; 

4.  Rules  regarding  conduct  in  society .  This  group 
will  comprise  Nos.  29,  30,  40,  44,  45,  46;  47,  48,  49, 
51*  54*  55*  61,  62,  63,  64  ; 

5.  The  four  A sramas  or  stages  of  Life .  In  this 
class  we  may  include  Nos.  23,  24,  25,  26,  41,  42,  43} 
53*  5b,  57*  58,  59- 

In  the  first  place,  the  so-called  AnSchSras  or  mal- 
observances  of  Malabar,  are  not  mal-observances  at  all. 
They  are  sanctioned  by  the  code  of  honour  of  the  East 

1.  See  the  Iravancore  Census  Report  for  igoi.  Part  I, 

page  303. 

CA. 


C26  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

Coast  as  well  as  that  of  the  West  Coast,  though  the 
East  Coast  Brahmin  is  not  so  strict  in  following  them 
as  the  Namputiris.  1  Secondly,  there  is  nothing 
peculiar  or  strange  about  many  of  these  customs,  as 
they  are  the  most  natural  that  one  might  expect  to  find 
in  a  country  with  the  like  physical  and  ethnological 
characteristics  of  Malabar.  In  a  land  where  the  rainfall 
is  plentiful  and  tanks  are  abundant,  that  bathing  should 
be  practised  as  a  fine  art  and  resorted  to  on  every  con¬ 
ceivable  pretext,  is  not  at  all  surprising,  especially 
when  we  take  into  consideration  the  wide  social  gulf 
that  existed  between  the  Aryan  emigrants  and  the 
Turanian  or  Dravidian  inhabitants  at  the  time  when 
they  come  in  contact  with  one  another.  The  same  fact 
will  account  for  the  rules  regarding  eating  as  well  as 
those  connected  with  the  ceremonial  pollution.  In  a 
community  so  sparsely  populated  as  the  Namputiris  at 
the  time  of  their  colonisation,  as  now,  it  would  be  diffi¬ 
cult  to  employ  other  Brahmins  as  Purohits ,  and  unwise 
to  divide  themselves  into  innumerable  sects  by  fruitless 
controversies  about  the  supremacy  of  particular  Gods. 
Hence  Namputiris  are  their  own  priests,  and  they  pay 
equal  veneration  to  the  Gods  of  the  Hindu  Pantheon. 
No  doubt  this  unsectarian  character  of  their  religious 
worship  received  an  impetus  and  an  additional  sanction 
from  the  Reformation  effected  by  Sri  Sankarschraya, 
whose  one  object  in  life  was  to  abolish  all  sectarian 
differences  and  to  unite  the  Hindus  in  the  worship  of 
the  one  True  God,  though  invoked  under  the  different 
names  and  forms.  Again,  the  soil  of  Malabar  being  so 
poor  in  saline  elements  -compared  with  the  soil  of  the 
East  Coast  and  of  the  surrounding  Districts,  where, 
rainfall  not  being  excessive,  salinity  is  better  retained, 
cattle  are  neither  so  good  nor  so  many  as  elsewhere ; 
and  this  necessitates  the  introduction  of  special  rules 
for  the  employment  of  cow’s  milk,  ghee,  etc.,  and  the 

1.  A  New  Study  of  the  Namptfjtiris,  by  Pandit  Natesa 
Ayyar  in  the  Madras  Mail .  See  also  The  1  ravancpre  State  Manual . 
Vol.  II,  page  266. 


SANKARACHARYA 


627 


'  N.  ii.] 

avoidance  of  those  of  buffaloes,  for  ceremonial  purposes. 
Malabar  is  a  place  where  snakes  are  as  plentiful  as 
crows  and  where  it  could  be  often  dangerous  to  go  out 
for  bathing  before  sun-rise,  not  to  speak  of  the  incon¬ 
venience  to  the  junior  members  of  the  Namputiri  house¬ 
hold  to  leave  the  houses  of  their  Nayar  wives  and  seek 
a  plunge  bath  in  the  torrential  rain.  In  the  same  way, 
it  is  not' necessary  to  call  in  the  adventitious  sanction  of 
the  sacred  name  of  Sankara  for  the  custom  of  the 
Namputiris  cremating  corpses  in  the  vicinity  of  their 
houses.  It  may  be  the  Guru  did  this  himself,  as  he 
was  compelled  to  do,  because  the  pharisees  of  the  day 
refused  to  help  him.  But  the  fact  that  the  Namputiris 
are  the  real  landlords  of  the  soil,  and  owned  and  even 
now  own  extensive  tracts  as  their  exclusive  properties, 
made  them  live  far  apart  and  not  in  agraharams  or  in 
close  proximity,  as  other  Brahmin  communities  do. 
Their  numbers  being  very  small,  the  Namputiris  are 
not  able  to  carry  their  corpses  to  distant  crematories, 
and,  even  in  their  own  house-yards,  they  '  are  depen¬ 
dent  on  the  Nayars  for  the  preparation  of  the  funeral 
pile.  1 

It  is  needless  to  pursue  the  argument  further. 
The  physical  features  of  the  country  and  the  social 
status  of  the  Namputiris  at  the  time  they  migrated  into 
it  are  sufficient  to  account  for  their  peculiar  customs 
imposed  by  necessity  and  sanctified  by  time.  The 
Namputiris  are  pure  Aryans  who  came  from  different 
parts  of  India  and  colonized  Malabar  at  different 
intervals.  Their  civilization  was  uncontaminated  by 
contact  with  the  surrounding  Dravidians  or  the  invad¬ 
ing  Scythians  of  the  North-west  of  India.  Hence 
they  devoted  themselves  exclusively  to  the  study  of  the 
Vedas  and  to  the  conduct  of  life  as  revealed  in  the 
Four  Asramas,  At  first  probably  they  practised 
agriculture,  spun  cotton,  and  washed  their  own  clothes. 
In  course  of  time,  by  sheer  of  force  intellect,  and  also, 

i.  See  the  observations  of  our  author^  in  para  3  of  Letter 


XX. 


628  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

perhaps,  by  the  splendour  of  their  position,  they  com¬ 
pelled  the  other  people  to  do  all  these  things  for  them. 
They  disapproved  of  Sa£i,  which  is  Non- Aryan  and 
which  is  of  Scythious  origin.  And  it  is  likely  that  in 
the  very  legend  of  their  leader  ParaSursma  having 
killed  the  K§ha{riyas  twenty-one  times,  there  is  this 
soul  of  truth — that  the  Aryans  had  to  fight,  often  single- 
handed,  against  the  barbaric  hordes  of  the  Scythian 
invaders  who  poured  into  India  through  the  North-west¬ 
ern  passes  from  Western  and  Central  Asia.  The  story 
of  ParaSursma’s  mother  having  been  smitten  by  the 
shadow  of  a  passing  Ariel,  her  consequent  death  at  the 
hands  of  her  son,  the  assasination  of  ParaSurSCma’s 
father  by  the  K§ha{riyas,  and  ParaSurSman’s  inter¬ 
minable  wars  with  them — all  these  show  the  jealous 
care  with  which  the  ancient  Aryans— the  ancestors  of 
the  present-day  Naippufiris — guarded  the  purity  of 
their  race.  The  Naipputiris  practise  no  “Lynch-laV*. 
But  they  impose  a  number  of  most  stringent  restrictions 
on  the  movements  of  their  fair  sex.  A  NampUtiri 
woman,  generally  called  an  Akayilullaver  or  Antar* 
janam  (occupant  of  the  inner  apartment)  must  not  look 
at  any  other  person  besides  her  own  husband,  and  when 
she  goesout^  she  is  always  accompanied  by  Nayar  maid¬ 
servants  to  shout  and  keep  men  out  of  her  way.  This 
anxiety  to  preserve  their  racial  purity  is  quite  natural 
and  is  due  to  various  causes.  One  of  these  is  the  de¬ 
gree  of  civilization  attained  by  the  Aryans  who  were 
superior  in  intelligence  and  in  physical  features  to  the 
earlier  Dravidian  inhabitants  of  the  country;  another  is 
the  fact  that  the  Aryan  colonies  in  Malabar,  when  they 
migrated  from  their  original  houses,  had  fewer  females 
among  them  than  males.  This  latter  circumstance 
also  accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  Narppn{iris  permit 
only  their  eldest  sons  to  marry,  and  allow  alliance  for 
the  other  male  members  with  the  K$ha{riya,  Vygia  and 
Nayar  women.  A  study  of  past  and  contemporary 
history  in  various  parts  of  the  world  will  lead  one  to 
believe  that  any  other  community  of  shrewd  people  in 
similar  circumstances  will  do  exactly  like  this# 


KONKANIES 


m 


N.  13.1 

12.  Marriage.  There  is  but  little  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  Korjkaijis  and  other  Brahmans  so  far  as  marri¬ 
age  ceremonials  are  concerned.  Our  author  has  given  a 
fair  description  of  what  takes  place.  His  account  may  be 
supplemented  by  a  few  further  details.  The  status  of 
husband  and  wife  is  created  by  the  tying  of  the  pli  or 
Mangalya  Su{ram.  So  long  as  the  ceremony  lasts,  the 
couple  eat  and  sleep  in  the  same  apartment.  The 
Kanyakadsnam  or  the  giving  away  of  the  bride  takes 
places  on  the  fourth  day  of  the  ceremony  and  not  on 
the  first  day  as  among  other  Brahmans.  The  Ava- 
bhrjasnsnam  or  final  bathing  is  performed  on  the  night 
of  the  5th  day.  The  bridegroom  stays  in  the  house  of 
the  bride  for  three  months  and  performs  the  Sjfellp^ka 
sacrifice.  The  I3lk§ha  terminates  in  the  third  month. 
The  Konkaru  is  divided  into  several  endogamous 
Go{ras  or  septs.  Custom  enjoins  that  as  far  as  possible 
a  Konka^i  ought  to  marry  his  maternal  uncle’s  or 
paternal  aunt’s  daughter.  Divorce  and  widow  marri¬ 
age  are  not  allowed.  Polygamy  is  allowed  but  seldom 
practised.  If  the  wife  proves  barren  or  suffers  from 
an  incurable  disease,  another  one  may  be  married,  but 
only  with  the  consent  of  the  first  wife.  Our  author  is 
not  correct  in  saying  that  ‘‘polygamy  is  forbidden 
among  the  Canarese  as  it  is  among  other  Brahmans.’ '* 
Among  no  class  of  Brahmans  is  polygamy  forbidden. 
The  Hindu  Law  allows  it,  though  it  is  seldom  practised* 

13.  Solemnities-  are  alike  at  birth 
and  death.  The  ceremonies  observed  by  the 
Konka^is  before  marriage  are  the  same  with  those 
of  the  other  Brahmans,  differing,  if  at  all,  only 
in  slight  local  details.  They  have  the  jstakarmaip, 
Namakar^am,  AnnapraSanam,  Chouiam,  and  Upana- 
yanam  ceremonies  in  succession.  A  Kghurapnja,  or 
the  consecration  of  the  razor,  precedes  its  employment 
for  cutting  the  umblical  cord.  On  the  fifth  day  after 
birth,  in  the  case  of  boys  and,  on  the  sixth  day,  in  the 
case  of  girls,  a  golden  necklace  is  tied  round  the  neck 
of  the  child  after  a  small  ceremony.  The  naming  or 


630 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  22. 


Namakargam  takes  place  on  the  12th  day,  the  eldest 
male  child  being  named  after  the  paternal  grandfather 
and  the  first  daughter  after  the  maternal  grandmother. 
AnnaprSsana  and  Chouia  are  the  first  rice-giving  and 
the  first  cutting  of  the  hair,  which  present  no  special 
features  requiring  notice.  Upanayana  or  investiture 
with  the  sacred  thread  comes  on  between  the  seventh 
and  tenth  years  of  the  boy’s  age.  This  is  a  very  im¬ 
portant  ceremony.  It  is  by  the  investiture  of  the 
thread  that  the  boy  becomes  a  Brahman,  a  member  of 
the  twice-born  class. 

Ceremonies  cifter  marriage •  When  a  girl  attains 
puberty,  the  husband's  relations,  on  information 
received  from  her  father,  arrange  to  have  the  nuptials 
performed  in  the  husband’s  house,  if  possible  within  a 
fortnight,  the  fifth  day  being  the  most  appropriate.  Till 
this  ceremony  is  over,  the  girl  is  strictly  prohibited 
from  going  out  of  doors.  In  the  third  month  after 
conception  is  the  Pumsavanam  and,  in  the  seventh, 
Slmamtam.  Pollution  after  death  lasts  for  ten  days. 
Only  one  Brahman  is  fed  on  occasions  of  Sraddhas. 

Personal  names .  The  names  generally  in  use 
are:-— for  males ,  those  of  Vishnu,  Subfamanya  and 
Ganapati,  such  as  Kr^hiia,  Vamana,  Narasimha, 
Guna  Vitlan  etc.  The  names  by  which  the  sacred 
rivers  of  India  are  known  are  generally  employed  as 
personal  names  of  females,  such  as,  Ganga,  Yamuna, 
Saraswati,  etc.  Gouri,  YasSda,  Sumitra,  Satyabhama, 
Subhadra,  Rukmani,  Nagai  and  Gunai  are  also  in 
general  use.  The  titular  suffixes  to  their  names  are 
many;  some  of  them  are : — K am matti,  Pai,  Pfabhu, 
Shenai,  Nayken,  Valikan  or  Balika,  Kini9  Patiyar, 
Row,  Kilikaran,  Pattar,  Ayyar,  Malian,  Vadhyar  and 
Acharyar. 

Language .  The  Sheinavis  speak  Maharathi  and 
the  Konkanis,  Konkajii.  Their  written  Character  is 
the  Maharati.  Both  the  Portuguese  and  Malayalani 
languages  have  contributed  largely  to  the  language  of 


CASTE  AND  OCCCPATION 


631 


N.  14.] 

their  homes.  To  those  who  are  not  their  castemen, 
the  Konkanis,  both  males  and  females,  speak  Mala- 
y  alarm  But  there  are  women  among  them  who  are 
strangers  to  that  language  altogether.  Tamil  is  almost 
unknown.  There  is  a  peculiar  intonation  which  is 
distinctly  characteristic  of  the  caste  when  the  Konkani 
speaks  Malayalam— an  intonation  which  he  has  pro¬ 
bably  derived  from  his  native  tongue, 

14.  Caste  and  occupation.  The  occupation  of  the 
Konkanies  have  been  commerce  ever  since  they  settled 
in  Malabar.  Their  character  as  tradesmen  has  been 
described  by  our  author  in  a  way  not  very  compli¬ 
mentary  to  them.  The  Dutch  Governor,  M.  Van. 
Adrian  Moens,  also,  speaking  of  them,  observes  much 
in  the  same  manner.  Ward  and  Cornner,  however, 
writing  about  them,  a  century  later,  speak  of  them  as 
devoted  to  commerce  in'  all  its  shapes  and  deserving  the 
merit  of  at  least  a  very  tolerable  share  of  integrity 
and  fair  dealing.  Whether  for  want  of  integrity  or 
not,  they  have  considerably  fallen  in  their  profession 
as  merchants.  Their  former  prosperity  in  this  line 
has  altogether  deserted  them.  In  Cochin  there  is  hardly 
any  one  at  present  who  can  be  called  a  prosperous 
merchant.  Of  course  there  are  numerous  small  traders 
who  vend  sundry  articles  of  domestic  use.  There  are 
some  who  own  lands  while  others  are  slowly  giving 
up  their  traditional  occupation  and  betaking  them¬ 
selves  to  other  professions.  The  other  Brahmans  of 
South  India  never  acknowledge  them  to  be  on  a  par  with 
them  in  caste  status,  and  do  not  interdine  or  intermarry 
with  them,  and  the  Konkands  return  the  compliment 
by  keeping  aloof  from  them  altogether.  It  is  said 
that  their  occupation  as  merchants  has  lowered  them  in 
the  eyes  of  their  Brahman  brethren.  But  this  can 
hardly  be  so.  For,  we  know  that,  in  spite  of  their 
being  members  of  the  twice-born  class,  these  Brahmans 
themselves  are  seldom  loth  to  earn  an  honest  penny 
as  a  merchant.  They  do  in  practice  trade  in  all  kinds 


832  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

of  articles,  not  excepting  those  which  the  Ss§{f-as 
denounce  as  abomination  for  them  even  to  look  at. 
The  Konka^is  of  .Malabar  have  now  begun  to  imitate 
the  example  of  their  castemen  in  South  Canara  and 
Bombay.  There  the  Shgnavi  Brahmans  have  always 
been  a  very  intelligent  class  and  some  of  the  greatest 
scholars  of  the  Bombay  Presidency,  such  as  the  late 
Dr.  Bhau  •  Daji,  the  late  Justice  Kasinath  Trimbak 
Telang,  the  late  Sankar  Pandurang  Pandit  and  Pro¬ 
fessor  Rarna  Krishna  Gopal  Bhandarkar,  whose  names 
will  always  stand  honoured  in  the  literary  history  of 
India,  are  Shgjpavis  by  caste.  The  Malabar  Konka^is 
are  intellectually  not  in  the  least  -  behind  their  kinsmen 
elsewhere  and,  if  by  force  of  circumstances  and  occu¬ 
pation,  they  have  not  been  able  to  keep  pace  with  their 
brethren  in  Western  India  in  intellectual  culture  till  re¬ 
cently,  they  have  now  begun  to  brace  themselves  up,  and 
are  endeavouring  to  qualify  themselves  tor  the  learned 
professions  according  to  the  requirements  of  the 
modern  age.  It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  there  are  at 
present  a  few  graduates  in  arts  and  in  law  in  the  com¬ 
munity  in  the  Malabar. 

Some  of  them  make  Pappajam  or  fine  thin  cakes 
made  of  grain  flour  and  a  fine  species  of  alkali  which 
gives  them  an  agreeable  salt  taste  and  serve  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  making  them  rise  and  become  very  crisp  when 
fried. 

In  their  home  near  Goa,  there  were  two  sects 
called  the  Shastis  (Sanskrit  for  60)  who  settled  in 
Goa  and  Shanvis  or  Shenvis  (Sanskrit  for  96),  being 
those  who  settled  in  the  districts  surrounding  Goa. 
These  names  evidently  indicate  the  number  of  families 
that  had  originally  come  down  from  the  north.  As 
observed  by  our  author,  the  Canarese  are  divided  into 
several  castes  which  differ  in  rank  and  sanctity  but 
have  similar  customs.  There  are  the  Brahmans  who, 
in  Malabar,  are  generally  called  the  Konkanis,  the 
VSniyans  who  are  VySias  and  the  Kutumiksr  who  are 


THE  SONAR 


633 


N.  17-1 

Sudras.  Dr.  Day  says  that  the  Konka^ies  ot  Cochin 
are  sub-divided  into  four  grades:  (i)  Tattans  or  gold¬ 
smiths  ;  (2)  Vsnuyans  (oil  merchants)  ;  (3)  the 

Chevies  who  are  shrops  and  general  merchants  ;  and 
(4)  the  Kutumies  who  found  rice  and  perform  inferior 
offices.  It  is  not,  however,  correct  to  say  that  the 
Vsijiyans  are  oil  merchants.  That  class  of  men  as 
well  as  the  Tattans,  Chefties  and  Kutumies  form  no 
part  of  the  Konka^i  caste. 

15.  Sons  alone  inherit.  The  Konkariies  follow 
the  ordinary  Hindu  Law  of  inheritance  and  succession. 
The  property  of  those  who  die  without  heirs  goes  by 
custom  to  their  Devaswams,  and  an  annual  ceremony  is 
performed  in  memory  of  the  deceased  and  in  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  their  souls. 

16.  Wannia— The  Vaniyans.  They  are  Vais- 
yas,  and  wear  the  sacred  thread.  In  regard  to  marriage, 
inheritance,  ceremonies,  dress,  ornaments,  etc.,  there 
is  practically  no  difference  between  the  Vsijiyas  and  the 
Konkanies.  But,  as  the  former  do  not  altogether  abstain 
from  meat  and  spirituous  liquors,  they  are  not  allowed 
free  access  to  the  houses  of  the  Konkanies,  nor  are 
they  permitted  to  touch  their  tanks  and  wells.  They  are 
Saivites.  They  have  their  own  priests,  who  are  called 
PanLdHars*  They  observe  birth  and  'death  pollution 
for  10  days,  and  are  like  Brahmans  in  this  respect. 
They  are  mostly  petty  merchants  and  shop-keepers. 
Some  can  read  and  write  Malayalam,  but  they  are  very 
backward  in  English  education.  The  title  of  Chet^i 
generally  assumed  by  them  points  to  their  being  Vai- 
Syas,  and  to  their  merchantile  profession. 

17.  The  Sonar.  The  Sonar  or  Sonagara 
from  Sonna  or  Swarija,  gold,  is  a  gold-smith  by  caste. 
Mr.  Sturrock,  in  his  Manual  of  the  District  of  South 
Canara ,  has  the  following  notice  of  them:  “They 
speak  Konkai^i  which  is  a  dialect  of  Marathi  and  are 
believed  to  have  come  from  Goa.  The  community  at 

CB. 


634  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

each  station  has  one  or  two  Mukhtesars  or  headmen 
who  enquire  into  and  settle  the  caste  affairs  ;  serious 
offences  are  reported  to  the  Swamy  of  Sode,  who  has 
authority  to  excommunicate  or  to  inflict  heavy  fines. 
They  wear  the  sacred  thread,  and  employ  Brahman 
priests.  Marriages  within  the  same  Gotra  are  strictly 
prohibited.  Most  of  them  are  Vaishnavites  but  a  few 
worship  Siva.  The  dead  are  burned  and  the  ashes 
are  thrown  into  a  river.  They  eat  fish  but  not  flesh. 
Their  title  is  Setti.”1  There  is  a  large  colony  of  them 
in  Cochin  with  a  temple  of  their  own.  They  are  ex¬ 
cellent  workmen  who  are  able  to  turn  out  any  kind  of 
work  of  which  a  sample  is  given  them. 

18.  The  ‘Iswwede1  and  the  ‘Curronby’. 

These  perhaps  form  one  and  the  same  class.  The 
equivalent  of  the  first  name,  Iswwede,  it  has  not  been 
possible  to  get  at.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
‘Carronby’  stands  for  Kutumbi,  Kutumpi  or  Kutumi. 

The  Kutumpi.  These  are  the  Konkana  Sudras 

who  serve  as  the  domestic  servants  of  the  Konkanies 

• 

in  whose  midst  they  are  invariably  found.  Their  im¬ 
migration  into  Malabar  may  be  taken  to  have  been 
coeval  with  that  of  the  Konkanies.  As  usual,  a  more 
or  less  fanciful  derivation  is  attributed  to  their  class 
name,  Kutumikar.  They  are  said  to  be  so  called  from 
the  fact  of  their  having  attached  themselves  to  the  Ku- 
tumbams  or  families  of  other  sections  of  the  Konkani 
population.  As  well  might  we  derive  the  name  from  the 
Malayalam  Kutumi  or  tuft  of  hair  and  say  that  they  are 
called  Kutumikar  because  they  wear  the  Kutumi  (tuft). 
Both  Kutumbam  and  Kutumma  are  Malayalam  terms 
and  the  derivation  attributed  is  altogether  imaginary. 
They  are  said  to  be  Smartas  by  persuasion,  though 
their  masters  are  Vai§hnavas.  In  attending  to  the 
accessory  duties  of  Konkani  temples,  the  Kutumpis  may 
be  said  to  resemble  the  Ampalavasies  of  Malabar, 
but,  like  these,  they  are  not  allowed  to  enter  into  the 
inner  precincts  of  the  temple.  They  are  at  the  same 

1  Page  516, 


GROUP  OF  KUDU  MI  CHETTIES. 


THE  KUTUMBI 


N.  18.] 


635 


time  domestic  servants  doing  menial  work  in  Konkani 
houses.  In  Travancore,  they  are  said  to  be  divided 
into  two  broad  divisions,  Muppans  and  Itiyans.  These 
do  not  intermarry.  The  Muppans,  who  claim  descent 
from  some  old  Konkani  chieftains,  consider  themselves 
higher  than  all  other  Kutumbies.  Two  other  divisions 
are  also  referred  to,  viz. ,  the  Katiyans  and  the  Kutum- 
pies  (proper),  but  in  practice  nothing  turns  upon  this. 
The  Muppans  of  Toravur  in  Travancore  are  famous 
for  the  fireworks  they  manufacture  for  the  Konkani 
temple  there.  The  Itiyans  employ  themselves  in  the 
preparation  of  Aval  or  beaten  rice.  The  Kutumpies 
have  the  reputation  of  possessing  an  uncommon  capa¬ 
city  for  hard  work  and  are  not  averse  to  any  form  of 
it.  They  are  boatmen,  porters,  agricultural  labourers, 
etc.  They  clean  tanks  and  wells,  thatch .  houses,  in 
short  they  are  willing  hands  at  all  kinds  of  manual 
labour.  They  are  an  altogether  illiterate  class  almost 
incapable  of  intelligent  work,  mother  wit  and  common 
sense  being  a  great  desideratum  with  them.  Animal 
food  and  intoxicant  drinks  are  not  tabooed.  But  they 
eat  only  fish  and  abstain  from  liquor  generally.  Their 
dress  and  ornaments  are  peculiar.  The  men  dress  like 
the  ordinary  natives  of  Malabar,  having  a  Mundu  or 
short  piece  of  cloth  tied  round  the  waist  and  reaching  * 
the  knees.  The  women  wear  a  much  longer  piece  of  cloth 
which  goes  down  the  knees  below  and  also  covers  the 
iipper  portion  of  the  body  by  taking  it  over  one  of  the 
shoulders,  and  securing  it  with  a  knot  at  the  left  shoulder. 
Bodices  are  not  worn.  But  strings  of  coral  and  red  beads, 
brass  and  glass  bracelets  are  almost  a  speciality.  Those 
who  can  afford  use  coloured  cloth.  They  tie  their  hair 
behind  in  a  peculiar  fashion  and  adorn  it  with  all  sorts 
of  fast  coloured  flowers,  little  caring  for  the  smell.  The 
girls  are  married  young.  The  Kutumies  are  generally 
MakkattSyis.  Death  pollution  lasts  for  1 5  days.  On 
the  1 6th  day,  they  are  purified  by  the  sprinkling  of  con¬ 
secrated  water  from  the  Konkani  temples.  For  cere¬ 
monial  purposes  in  some  places,  Konkani  VsdhySrs 


636 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


[L.  22. 


officiate  as  priests,  while,  in  other  places,  there  are 
priests  belonging  to  their  own  community.  Their 
tutelary  divinity  is  Bhagavati,  and  the  day  on  which  the 
Bharani  asterism  falls  is  one  of  great  festivity.  They 
attend  the  Cranganore  Bhagavati  temple  on  Makara 
SamkrSnti  day  in  great  numbers.  At  Allkkalin  Cochin, 
they  have  a  temple  of  their  own,  where  their  castemen 
officiate  as  priests.  Their  chief  amusement  is  called 
Kslati.  A  dozen  people  stand  in  a  circle,  with  sticks, 
a  cubic  long,  in  hand,  strike  them  against  one  another 
in  unison,  so  as  to  keep  time  with  the  songs  they  sing 
in  praise  of  Krshna  and  Bhagavati.  The  Vsniyans  and 
Kutumies  speak  a  somewhat  corrupt  form  of  a  Ko^kani 
dialect  of  Maharathi.  They  have  a  peculiar  intonation 
in  speaking.  The  Kutumies  do  not  take  food  at  the 
hands  of  Nayars.  They  cannot,  as  they  say,  even  take 
water  touched  by  the  Nayars,  and  the  Nayars  in  their 
turn  would  not  allow  them  to  draw  water  from  their 
tanks  and  wells.  The  difficulty  is  got  over  by  the 
Kutumies  accepting  water  drawn  by  Nayars,  only  they 
insist  on  a  few  drops  of  buttermilk  being  poured  into 
it,  the  idea  being  that  this  converts  the  water  into 
butter-milk  which  they  are  not  prevented  from  taking 
at  the  hands  of  the  Nayars.  Such  are  the  subterfuges 
to  which  simple  people  are  driven  to  circumvent  caste, 
customs  and  usages. 

19.  Festivals  of  Canarese. — (1)  Isamparocah . 
This  is  the  Malayalam  Samvatsarampufakkal  or  the 
new  year’s  day  which  is,  as  with  all  Hindus,  on  the  1st 
of  Medam  or  Chitray. 

(2)  TivunaL  This  is  not  a  ceremony  peculiar  to 
Konkanies.  It  corresponds  to  the  Utsavam  of  Malabar 
temples.  In  memory  of  the  foundation  of  the  temples, 
festivals  are  celebrated  in  them  annually  which  last  for 
7  or  8  days,  when  the  shrines  are  decorated  and  the 
idol  is  taken  in  procession  daily  round  the  pagoda  in 
great  pomp,  three  times  a  day,  on  the  back  of  richly 
caparisoned  elephants,  and,  in  the  case  of  Konka^i 


N.  19.] 


FESTIVALS  OF  CANARESE 


637 


temples,  in  palanquin  or  on  various  vahanams,  to  the 
accompaniment  of  drums  and  music,  and  is  bathed  in 
the  temple  tank  on  the  last  day.  Every  night,  during 
the  festival,  the  pagoda  and  its  surroundings  are  illu¬ 
minated,  and  the  money  spent  on  pyrotechincs  is  enor¬ 
mous.  Their  castemen  are  daily  fed  in  the  temple. 
This  festival  is  known  as  Utsavam  and  is  no  peculiarity 
with  the  Canarese.  Every  temple  in  Malabar  of  any 
consequence  celebrates  its  Utsavam  annually  with  more 
or  less  grandeur  as  it  can  afford. 

(3)  The  feast  of  Mantjeniy .  This  is  the  Nsga 
Panchami  celebrated  in  honour  of  serpents.  Serpent 
worship  is  held  by  the  Canarese  in  as  niuch  importance 
as  by  other  Brahmans.  Images  of  serpents  are  conse¬ 
crated  and  worshipped  in  their  temples  as  also  in  the 
serpent  groves  of  private  individuals.  The  pollution 
and  desecration  of  these  groves  and  the  molestation 
and  the  killing  of  the  serpents  are  looked  upon  with  as 
much  abhorence  as  with  other  Hindus,  and  the  Cana¬ 
rese  with  their  other  Hindur  brethren  fully  believe 
that  such  acts  would  certainly  lead  to  leprosy  and  bar¬ 
renness.  The  Konkana  Vysias  and  Sudras  are  also 
snake  worshippers.  In  their  case,  the  Puja  is  perform¬ 
ed  by  the  Konkan  Brahmans.  Naga  Panchami  is  the 
special  day  for  the  worship  of  serpents. 

{ 4 )  Tzontam  Pounow .  More  correctly  Sattam 
Pounow .  This  corresponds  to  the  Ava$i  Avattam  or 
UpSkarmam  of  the  other  Brahmans,  solemnised  in  the 
month  SrSvana,  Chingam  or  August-September,  when 
all  Brahmans  change  their  sacred  thread,  repeat  their 
Sandhya,  Gsyatri,  etc.,  a  number  of  times,  and  make 
amends  for  neglect  to  repeat  these  daily  in  the  course 
of  the  year  ending  with  that  day. 

(5)  Astamy .  This  is  the  Ashtami  Rohini  or 
Gokula  .A§htami  celebrated  as  the  day  of  the  birth  of 
Krshrn  as  Vishjju  incarnate. 

(6)  Wine  Szoute.  More  correctly  VinSyaka 
Chatuj^hi,  a  festival  observed  in  honour  of  Gagapafi  or 


638  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

Vighn&wara,  the  issue  of  Siva  and  Psrvati,  conceived 
while  they  were  sporting  on  the  mountains  in  the  form 
of  elephants.  The  image  of  Ga^apati  is  represented  as 
having  the  head  of  an  elephant  with  its  trunk  and  tusks 
the  body  being  of  human  shape  with  four  arms  and  a 
bulging  belly.  He  is  generally  spoken  of  as  a  vora¬ 
cious  eater  and  a  gourmand,  and  it  so  happened  that, 
while  he  was  once  out  on  an  errand,  after  a  more  than 
usual  filling  of  his  huge  belly,  he  happened  to  trip  his 
foot  and  have  a  nasty  fall.  He  got  up  hastily  and 
looked  round  to  see  if  any  had  witnessed  the  awkward 
plight  in  which  he  was  and  found  none.  Glad  at  not 
being  observed  by  any  one,  he  was  passing  on,  when 
he  happened  to  look  up  and,  to  his  great  disgust  and 
mortification,  he  saw  the  waxing  moon  having  a  hearty 
laugh  at  his  uncouth  figure  and  his  awkward  fall* 
Albiet  his  claim  to  be  classed  as  one  of  the  chief  among 
gods,  his  vanity  was  wounded  and  he  pronounced  a 
solemn  curse  on  the  unfortunate  moon  that  those  who 
happen  to  see  her  on  that  day  every  year  wii1  be  sub¬ 
jected  to  all  sorts  of  culumnies  and  will  become  objects 
of  laughter  to  their  brethren.  Hence  all  orthodox 
Hindus  avoid  seeing  the  moon  on  that  day,  and  wor¬ 
ship  the  gourmand  god  by  placing  before  his  image  an 
immense  quantity  of  delicious  eatables.  On  this  day 
Puja  is  also  performed  to  Ganapati. 

(7)  Tjc  Hordesje .  More  correctly  Ananta 
Cha|ur4e§i  or  Ananta  Vratam,  a  very  important  festi¬ 
val.  At  present  the  Raja  of  Cochin  does  not  attend 
this  festival,  as  is  mentioned  by  the  author. 

(8)  Mannemy  or  Mahanavamu  Our  author  has 
failed  to  understand  the  importance  of  this  festival. 
He  describes  it  as  a  holiday  for  school-going  children. 
It  is  the  Nava-Ra^fi,  or  Durga  Puja  or  the  Dussara  in 
honour  of  the  goddess  Sarasw^fi  celebrated  all  over  India 
by  all  Hindus*  The  worship  goes  on  for  9  days  and  with 
the  Bengatees  mftl  Maharattas,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
important  national  festivals  in  their  calendar.  During 


N,  19.] 


FESTIVALS  OF  CANARESE 


639 


the  palmy  days  of  Maharatta  supremacy,  the  Maharatta 
hordes  set  out  on  their  career  of  conquest  and  raid  on 
the  last  day  of  this  festival.  In  Bengal,  even  today,  all 
work  is  stopped  for  ten  days,  the  shops,  the  Law 
Courts  and  other  Government  institutions  are  closed, 
and  the  people  make  the  ten  days  regular  holidays.  In 
Malabar,  among  classes  other  than  the  Brahmans,  it  is 
known  as  Ayudha  Puja  and  all  handicrafts  men,  in 
imitation  of  the  Nayars  who,  as  men  of  the  military 
class,  began  the  worship  of  their  arms,  offer  worship  to 
their  tools  and  implements  and  spent  the  last  three 
days  of  the  festival  in  great  glee.  In  Malabar,  for 
those  three  days,  no  one  would  write,  or  even  read  one’s 
prayer  books.  Their  books  are  placed  before  the 
image  of  the  goddess  Saraswati  and  puja  or  worship 
offered.  On  the  last  day,  they  are  received  back  and 
solemnly  opened  and  a  few  lines  read.  Then  some 
sand  is  spread  on  the  floor  on  which  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet  are  traced  in  token  perhaps  of  the  original 
initiation  into  letters  and  learning.  This  opportunity 
is  also  availed  of  for  the  commencement  of  the  educa¬ 
tion  of  children. 

(9)  Deevali  or  Deepavali  means  literally  a  collec¬ 
tion  of  lights.  Nabakasser  stands  for  Narakssura 
whom  the  God  Krishna  killed  to  relieve  the  world  from 
his  oppression  and  tyranny.  The  festival  is  observed 
in  honour  of  the  event.  It  is  celebrated  with  much 
rejoicing  through  the  whole  of  India  by  all  classes  of 
Hindus.  The  Saivites  and  Vishnavites  explain  its 
origin  in  different  ways.  Both  versions  however  agree 
in  saying  that  it  is  celebrated  in  commemoration  of  the 
killing  of  the  Rskshasa  Narakjsura.  The  Saivite  say 
that  the  giant  was  killed  by  Subfamani  i,  the  son  of 
Siva  or  Maheswara,  whose  aid  was  sought  bv  the 
Devas  who  were  being  cruelly  oppressed  by  the  Rsk- 
shasa.  According  to  the  Vaishnavas,  Narakssura  had 
imprisoned  16,008  Gopis  (women  of  the  cowherd  class). 
Sri  Krishna  out  of  compassion  for  them  accompanied 


640  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  |L.  22. 

by  his  consort  Sattya-Bhsma,  went  against  the  Asura, 
fought  with  him,  and  left  him  dead  on  the  field.  The 
Gopis  were  released  and  they  became'  greatly  elated 
with  their  success.  They  illumined  their  houses  with 
myriads  of  lamps,  and  having,  at  the  break  of  day,  just 
at  the  hour  corresponding  to  that  at  which  Narakssura 
died,  partaken  of  a  sumptuous  feast,  the  sons  of  India 
have  since  that  day  celebrated  the  feast  in  the  same 
manner.  The  festival  is  also  known  as  Naraka  Cha- 
{urdesi. 

(10)  Terou  or  Ter  or  car.  At  temple  festivals 
or  utsavams,  the  image  of  the  god  (‘Winke  Tapati’= 
Venkitapati)  is  placed  on  a  trumphal  car  beautifully 
decorated,  and  dragged  round  the  pagoda.  It  is  pecu¬ 
liar  to  the  Canarese  temples  in  Malabar  as  also  to  the 
Pattar  Brahman  temples  of  Palghat.  The  Malayalees 
do  not  observe  this  in  their  temples  which  do  not  keep 
cars  at  all.  Their  images  are  always  carried  on  the 
backs  of  huge  elephants  with  gold  or  silver  facings. 
On  the  East  Coast,  however,  a  car  is  almost  an  indis- 
pensible  adjunct  to  a  temple. 

(11)  Chigma  or  Sikma •  This  corresponds  to  the 
Holi  festival  lasting  for  a  fortnight. 

There  are  other  festivals  observed  by  the  Cana¬ 
rese  not  mentioned  by  our  Author  but  which  are  of 
sufficient  importance  to  be  named  here.  Along  with 
the  Anantavrita  may  be  mentioned  Varalakshmivrita 
as  being  of  paramount  importance.  In  the  month  of 
KSrtika  (November),  fasts  are  observed  for  the  special 
propitiation  of  DSmodara  (Vishpu).  The  UthSnS  Eks- 
deSi  day  closes  the  fast  days  of  Ksrtika.  On  that  day 
Vi§hnu  is  worshipped  by  the  side  of  the  Tuiasi  plant, 
( Ocymum  Sanctum)  and  Brahmans  are  entertained. 

20.  The  Caste  Government  The  following 
extract  from  the  Census  Report  of  Travancore  gives  us 
an  idea  of  the  caste  Government  of  the  Canarese.  “The 
Konkapies  have  been  said  to  belong  partly  to  the  Vai- 
shnavite  and  partly  to  the  Saivite  sect  of  Hinduism. 


N.  20.]  CASTE  GOVERNMENT  641 

There  are  eight  gramams  or  villages  for  the  Kon- 
kana  Brahmans  of  Travancore.  They  are  known  as 
Ashta-gramas,  and  consist  of  one  at  Alleppey,  another 
at  Poracad,  a  third  at  Kayamkulam,  a  fourth  at  Quilon, 
a  fifth  at  Shertallay,  a  sixth  at  Turavur,  a  seventh  at 
Kottayam  and  the  eighth  at  Parur.  It  is  only  those  who 
belong  to  one  or  other  of  these  eight  villages  that  are 
said  to  be  strictly  entitled  to  the  name  of  Konkani.  In 
Trivandrum  there  are  many  Konkanies.  They  are  not 
allowed  to  mix  with  their  fellow  castemen  who  dwell  in 
the  north  for  purposes  of  commensality.  Difference  of 
faith,  however,  between  the  Saivites  and  Vaishnavites 
is  no  bar  to  the  interdining  and  intermarriage.  The 
Smartas  owe  spiritual  allegiance  to  the  ancient  Kaival- 
yamath,  situated  in  the  Goanese  territory,  and  founded 
by  a  disciple  of  Govinduyati,  the  Guru  of  Sri  Sankara- 
The  Yaishnavas  have  two  Maths,  offshoots  of  the  Pha- 
limarmath  of  Udipi  founded  by  Madhava Charya.  They 
are  known  as  the  Kasi  and  Gokarna  Mutts  from  the 
principal  seats  of  the  respective  Swamiyars  being  loca¬ 
ted  at  Benares  and  Goa  respectively.  (It  is  the  Swami- 
yar  of  the  Benares  Mutt  who  is  styled  their  Bishop  by 
our  author).  The  present  Swamiyar  at  Benares  is 
called  Srimath  Varadendratiratha  Swamikal.  The 
Swamiyar  is  the  highest  authority  in  all  social  and 
religious  matters.  There  are  several  temples  and 
village  priests  under  his  control.  The  ordinary  and 
emergent  affairs  of  every  village  are  heard  and  decided 
by  the  managing  Committee  of  the  temple  attached  to 
that  village.  A  portion  of  the  temple  is  specially  set 
apart  as  a  sort  of  c  ourt-house  and  is  called  Yogasala 
or  the  Council  hall.  This  Yoga  (coundl)  is  bound  to 
see  that  the  priests  perform  their  duties  with  care  and 
attention.  Every  important  decision  has  to  be  com¬ 
municated  to  the  Swamiyar  and  all  facts  have  to  be 
laid  before  him”.1 

In  Cochin  also,  all  caste  disputes  are  referred  to 
their  High  Priest  the  Swamiyar  of  Kasi  (Benares)  Mutt 
i.  Pages  283 — 284. 


CC. 


642  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

who  resides  at  Muncheswar  or  Basroon.  The  com¬ 
munity  is  everywhere  known  as  Pathunrper  or  the  ten 
individuals  perhaps  with  reference  to  the  original  ten 
families  said  to  have  been  brought  from  Tirhut. 

Our  author's  account  of  the  Konkanies  shows 
them  to  have  been,  as  they  still  are,  to  a  certain  extent, 
an  important  section  noted  for  the  industry  and  their 
enterprise.  As  merchants,  no  doubt  they  are  losing 
ground,  but  they.are  steadily  advancing  on  their  lines. 
Ward  and  Conner’s  description  of  the  sect  informs  us 
that,  in  their  day,  “their  superior  perseverance  and 
industry  rendered  them  productive  subjects.”  Com¬ 
paring  them  with  the  Lubbays  who  were  also  immi¬ 
grants,  Ward  and  Conner  say  that  the  Konkanies 
“have  all  their  habits  of  unwearied  diligence,  without 
any  of  their  vices”.  They  are  a  thriving  class  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  ere  long  they  will  be  able 
to  take  their  place  by  the  side  of  their  Brahman  bre¬ 
thren  in  every  walk  of  life. 

21.  Jogis.  Then,  in  this  letter  our  author  refers 
to  a  class  ot  people  who  wander  about  from  one  end  of 
India  to  the  other  and  have  no  permanent  abode  of 
their  own.  They  are  of  no  particular  caste.  According 
to  Yule  a  Jo  gee  is  a  Hindu  ascetic,  and  sometimes  a 
conjuror.  From  Sanskrit  Yogin  one  who  practises  the 
yoga ,  a  system  of  meditation  combined  with  austerities 
which  is  supposed  to  induce  miraculous  power  over 
elementary  matter.1  Dr.  Forster,  the  learned  trans¬ 
lator  of  Fra  Bartolomeo,  derives  the  word  Yogee  from 
‘Yoga’,  community  under  which  name  he  says,  “is 
understood  people  who  have  everything  in  common. 
In  the  Samscred,  they  are  named  Goswami,  from  Go  a 
cow  and  Swa?ni  a  lord,  consequently  lords  of  the  cow, 
for  they  are  accustomed  to  sprinkle  and  paint  their 
bodies  with  dried  cow’s  dung.  They  are  known  also 
by  a  more  ancient  Samscred  name,  viz»%  Samana  or 
Shamana,  that  is  the  Mild  ;  for  they  kill  no  animals, 

f.  Hobson  Job  son ,  p.  351. 


YOGIS 


643 


N.  21.] 

cut  no  plants,  and  never  eat  fish,  but  feed  merely  on 
rice,  wild  herbs,  roots  and  fruit.  They  live  together 
in  company  under  a  common  chief  or  teacher  who  in 
the  Samscred  is  called  Guru.  As  true  gymnosophists, 
they  go  quite  naked  and  sleep  on  the  ground,  having 
nothing  under  them  but  made  of  palm  leaves  inter¬ 
woven  with  each  other.  They  avoid  all  intercourse 
with  the  world,  study  philosophy,  theogony,  botany 
and  astronomy  and  have  written  a  great  many  treatises 
on  these  sciences  in  the  Indian  languages.  They  are 
real  stoics  and  often  impose  upon  themselves  severest 
penances.  They  are  mentioned  by  Cicero,  Plutarch, 
Clemenes  of  Alexandria  and  Arrian.  The  last  author 
says,  besides  other  things  respecting  them,  that  they 
were  accustomed  to  walk  down  into  the  Sea  at  Cape 
Canfari  (Camorin)  in  order  to  purify  themselves,  a 
custom  which  the},  have  retained  to  this  day.”1  Again, 
while  differentiating  the  Bikshu  or  the  begging  monks 
from  the  Yogi*  the  same  writer  observes;  ‘'They  have 
nothing  in  common  with  the  gymnosaphists.  Sam aneir 
Yoginst  and  Gosuza  who  never  eat  with  them  nor  enter 
their  pagodas  or  temples.  The  last  mentioned  form  also 
four  different  classes,  for  they  consist  of  hermits,  mem¬ 
bers  who  live  in  common  and  possess  certain  portions  of 
land,  mendicants  or  the  gymnosophists  properly  so  called 
and  Sanyasis  (Senasseys),  who  all  forsake  their  wives  and 
run  about  naked.  All  the  philosophers,  who  as  already 
said,  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Brahmans, 
impose  upon  themselves  penances  waich  appear 
almost  incredible.  ‘Some  of  these  people’  says  Palle- 
bot  de  Saint  Lubin2  ‘remain  silting  on  the  ground 
so  long  that  they  are  not  able  to  move  from  the 
spot;  others  keep  their  arms  so  long  in  an  erect  pos¬ 
ture  that  an  anchilosis  is  formed  between  the  joint  of 
the  arm  and  the  shoulder  blade,  and  they  are  altogether 
incapable  of  holding,  their  arm  out  straight.  Some 
keep  their  hando  always  folded  together,  so  that  their 

i«  Bartolomeo,  p.  hi. 

?.  Vol.  I,  p.  25, 


644  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

\ 

nails  grow  through  the  flesh  and  appear  on  the  other 
side.  Some  drag  after  them  monstrous  chains;  others 
support  heavy  beams  in  the  air,  and  others  roll  them¬ 
selves  down  from  the  top  of  the  mountains  etc.’  I 
myself  saw  one  of  these  men  who  had  a  heavy  chain 
suspended  from  his  foreskin;  another  had  stuck  his 
head  up  to  the  neck  in  an  iron  cage  and  a  third  had 
held  his  arm  so  long  over  the  fire  that  it  was  entirely 
withered.”1 

Marco  Polo  (1208)  refers  to  them  as  Chugi . 
Speaking  of  the  people  of  ‘‘The  Province  of  Lar  whence 
the  Brahmans  come,”  Polo  observes: — “There  is 
another  class  of  people  called  Chugi,  who  are  indeed 
properly  Abraiaman,  but  they  form  a  religious  order 
devoted  to  the  Idols.  They  are  extremely  long  lived, 
every  man  of  them  living  to  150  or  200  years.  They 
eat  very  little,  but  what  they  do  eat  is  good  rice  and 
milk  chiefly*  And  these  people  make  use  of  a  very 
strange  beverage;  for  they  make  a  portion  of  sulphur 
and  quicksilver  mixed  together  and  this  they  drink 
twice  every  month.  This,  they  say,  gives  them  long 
life,  and  it  is  a  potion  they  are  used  to  take  from  their 
childhood.” 

“There  are  certain  members  of  this  order  who 
lead  the  most  ascetic  life  in  the  world,  going  stark 
naked,  and  these  worship  the  ox.  Most  of  them  have 
a  small  ox  of  brass  or  pewter  or  gold  which  they  wear 
tied  over  the  forehead.  Moreover  they  take  cow- 
dung  and  burn  it,  and  make  a  powder  thereof;  and  make 
an  ointment  of  it,  and  daub  themselves  withal,  doing 
this  with  as  great  devotion  as  Christians  do  show  in 
using  Holy  Water.  Also  if  they  meet  any  one  who 
'  treats  them  well,  they  daub  a  little  of  this  powder  on 
the  middle  of  his  forehead.” 

‘‘They  eat  not  from  bowls  or  trenchers,  but  put 
their  victuals  on  leaves  of  the  Apple  of  Paradise  and 
other  big  leaves;  these,  however,  they  use  dry,  never 

x  Page  394,  Note . 


iS.  Si.] 


YOGIS 


645 


green,  for  they  say  the  green  leaves  have  a  soul  in 
them,  and  so  it  would  be  a  sin.  And  they  would  rather 
die  than  do  what  they  deem  their  Law  pronounces  to 
be  sin.  If  any  one  asks  how  it  comes  that  they  are  not 
ashamed  to  go  stark  naked  as  they  do,  they  say,  ‘We 
go  naked  because  naked  we  came  into  the  world,  and 
we  desire  to  have  nothing  about  us  that  is  of  this 
world.  Moreover  we  have  no  sin  of  the  flesh  to  be 
conscious  of,  and  therefore  we  are  not  ashamed  of  our 
nakedness,  any  more  than  you  are  to  show  your  hand  or 
your  face,  you  who  are  conscious  of  the  sins  of  the  flesh 
do  well  to  have  shame,  and  to  cover  your  nakedness. 

“They  would  not  kill  an  animal  on  any  account* 
not  even  a  fly,  or  a  flea,  or  a  louse,  or  anything  in  fact 
that  has  life;  for  they  say  these  have  all  souls,  and  it 
would  be  sin  to  do  so.  They  eat  no  vegetable  in  a  green 
state,  only  such  as  are  dry.  And  they  sleep  on  the 
ground  stark  naked,  without  a  carp  of  clothing  on  them 
or  under  them,  so  that  it  is  a  marvel  they  don’t  all  die, 
in  place  of  living  so  long  as  I  have  told  you.  They 
fast  everyday  in  the  year,  and  drink  nought  but  water. 
And  when  a  novice  has  to  be  received  among  them,  they 
keep  him  awhile  in  their  convent,  and  make  him  follow 
their  rule  of  life.  And  then,  when  they  desire  to  put 
him  to  the  test,  they  send  for  some  of  those  girls  who 
are  devoted  to  the  Idols  and  make  them  try  the  conti¬ 
nence  of  the  novice  with  their  blandishments.  If  he 
remains  indifferent,  they  retain  him,  but  if  he  shows 
any  emotion,,  they  expel  him  from  their  society.  For 
they  say  they  will  have  no  man  of  loose  desires  among 
them. 

“They  are  such  cruel  and  perfidious  Idolators 
that  it  is  very  devilry.  They  say  that  they  burn  the 
bodies  of  the  dead  because,  if  they  were  not  burnt,  worms 
would  be  bred'  which  would  eat  the  body  and,  when  no 
more  food  remained  for  them,  these  worms  would  die 
and  the  soul  belonging  to  that  body  would  bear  the  sin 


646  LETTERS  BfdOM  MALABAR  [L-  22. 

and  the  punishment  of  their  death.  And  that  is  why 
they  burn,  their  dead  !”  1 

Ibn  Batuta  (1343)  found  a  yogi  in  the  Island  of 
Anjedgva,  where  there  was  a  temple,  a  grove  and  a  tank 
of  water,  leaning  against  the  wall  of  the  temple. 
Respecting  him  he  tells  some  remarkable  stories.  A 
century  and  a  half  after,  Ibn  Batuta  Correa  (1498)  says 
that  Vasco  da  Gama’s  ships  put  in  at  Anjedeva,  and  the 
men  going  on  shore  found  that  “there  were  good  water 
springs,  and  there  was  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Island 
a  tank  built,  with  stone  with  very  good  water  and  much 
wood  *  *  *  *  there  were  no  inhabitants,  only  a 

beggarman  whom  they  call  joguedis  of  whom  further 
on  I  will  give  a  long  account.”2 

Speaking  of  the  infidels  of  Calicut,  Abdur  Razak 
(1442)  says  that  they  “are  divided  into  a  great  number 
of  classes  such  as  the  Brahmans,  the  yogis  and  others.* ’ 

The  yogis  seem  to  have  had  a  king  of  their  own 
who  Yule  and  Burnell  think  was  perhaps  the  chief  of 
the  Gorakanatha  Gosains  who  were  once  very  numerous 
on  the  West  Coast  and  have  still  a  settlement  at  Kadri 
near  Mangalore.  Varthema  (1510)  referring  to  their 
chief  observes,  “The  king  of  the  Joghe  is  a  man  of 
great  dignity,  and  has  about  30,000  people,  and  he  is  a 
pagan,  he  and  all  his  subjects,  and  by  the  pagan  kings 
he  and  his  people  are  considered  to  be  saints  on  account 
of  their  lives  which  you  shall  hear  *  *  *  *  *.  ”3 

In  1624,  Della  Vella  says.  “Finally  I  went  to  see 
the^king  of  the  yogis  (Gioghi)  where  he  dwelt  at  that 
time,  under  the  shade  of  a  cottage,  and  I  found  him 
roughly  occupied  in  his  affairs,  as  a  man  of'  the  field 
and  husbandman  *  *  they  told  me  his  name  was 

Batinata  (Badrinatha?)  and  the  hermitage  and  the  place 
generally  was  called  Cadira  (Kadri).”4 

1.  Marco  Polo  in  vol.  2,  pp.  365  to  367. 

2.  Page  239,  Stanley’s  Correa. 

3.  P.  hi. 

4*  Vol.  2,  p.  724. 


N.  21.]  YOGIS  647 

In  course  of  time,  the  order  of  the  yogis  must  have 
considerably  deteriorated.  Originally  they  formed  a 

community  of  men  who  had  retired  from  worldly  affairs 
and  devoted  themselves  to  philosophy  and  religion. 
Barbosa  (1516)  in  noticing  them  observes,  “And 
many  of  them  noble  and  respectable  people  not  to  be 
subject  to  the  Moors,  go  out  of  the  kingdom  and  take 
the  habit  of  poverty  wandering  the  world.”  Thus 
political  causes  seem  to  have  contributed  to  augment¬ 
ing  their  number.  Barbosa  describes  them  as  carrying 
“very  heavy  chains  round  their  necks  and  waists  and 
legs.  They  smear  all  their  bodies  and  faces  with  ashes.  ’1 

T  wo  and  a  half  centuries  before  our  author  wrote, 
Ma  Huan  the  Chinese  Muhammadan  (1409),  found  the 
yogis  in  the  town  of  ochin.  Like  Marco  Polo  he  calls 
them  Chokis  rendered  into  yogi  by  his  translator.  Of 
them  he  says: — “Here  also  is  another  class  of  men  Cho¬ 
kies  (yogis),  who  lead  austere  lives  like  the  Taoists  of 
China,  but,  who,  however,  are  married.  These  men  from 
the  time  they  are  born  do  not  have  their  heads  shaved  or 
combed,  but  plait  their  hair  into  several  tails,  which  hang 
over  their  shoulders,  they  wear  no  clothes,  but  round 
their  waist  they  fasten  a  strip  of  rattan,  over  which  they 
hang  a  piece  of  white  calico;  They  carry  a  conch-shell 
which  they  blow  as  they  go  along  the  road.  They  are 
accompanied  by  their  wives,  who  simply  wear  a  small  bit 
of  cotton  cloth  round  their  loins.  Alms  of  rice  and 
money  are  given  to  them  by  the  people  whose  houses 
they  visit.”  Tnis  picture  of  the .  wandering  Yogi  or 
Byragi,  vairagi  (lit:  ooe  who  has  renounced  all  worldly 
connection)  in  the  streets  of  Cochin  is  as  true  today  as 
when  it  was  drawn.  Any  one  passing  through  the 
streets  of  Mattancberry  in  Native  Cochin  can  see  the 
naked  yogi  passing  from  door  to  door  seeking  alms, 
accompanied  by  his  wife,  if  he  has  one,  who  however  is 
now  better  clad,  perhaps  to  suit  modern  notions  of 
dccencey.  At  present  there  is  a  perennial  stream  of 
wandering  pilgrims,  yogis,  Gosais,  Byragis,  et  hoc 

i.  Pages  99 — too, 


G48  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR  [L.  22. 

genus  omne  passing  along  from  one  end  of  India  to  the 
other,  some  indeed  truly  bent  on  holy  pilgrimage  to 
sacred  shrines.  But  the  majority  of  them  seek*  by 
wandering  a  subsistence  which  their  idleness  and  in¬ 
dolence  cannot  find  by  other  means.  Many  of  them 
are  conjurors,  jugglers,  charlatans  and  mountebanks, 
vending  glass  beads,  relics,  images  and  nostrums.  Some 
pretend  astrology  and  divination.  De  Barrus  (1553) 
tells  us  that  “much  of  the  general  fear  that  affected  the 
inhabitants  of  that  city  (Goa  before  its  capture  by  the 
Portuguese)  proceeded  from  a  Gen  too  of  Bengal  by 
nation,  who  went  about  in  the  habit  of  a  yogue ,  which 
is  the  straitest  sect  of  their  religion.  *  *  *  Say¬ 

ing  that  the  city  would  speedily  have  a  new  Lord,  and 
would  be  inhabited  by  a  strange  people,  contrary  to  the 
will  of  the  natives.”  De  Barro’s  jogue  appears  to  have 
been  of  the  true  metal,  for  his  prediction  was  soon  ful¬ 
filled;  for  Goa  soon  had  a  new  Lord,  the  Portuguese, 
and  came  to  be  inhabited  by  that  strange  people  to  the 
disgust  cf  the  natives  who  were  sorely  persecuted. 
A  decade  after  De  Barros,  Garcia  (1563)  speaks  of  these 
jogues  carrying  the  Cobras  de  Capello  while  asking 
alms  of  the  people  “and  these  yogues/  he  says  “are 
certain  heathens  (Gentios)  who  go  begging  all  about 
the  country,  powdered  all  over  with  ashes,  and  are 
venerated  by  all  the  poor  heathen  and  by  some  of  the 
Moors  also.”  1 

The  yogis  or  Gosais  receive  alms  all  along  the  line 
of  the  way  from. Nepal  to  Rameswaram,  and  their  wants 
are  specially  attended  to  in  Malabar  and  more  parti¬ 
cularly  in  the  Native  States  of  Cochin  and  Travancore. 
At  every  choultry  and  temple  under  the  management 
of  the  Sirkar,  and  there  are  many  of  these,  rice  is  doled 
out  to  them  regularly  and,  in  the  course  of  their  journey, 
they  are  carried  over  ferries  free  of  charge.  It  has 
been  so  ail  along.  They  have  choultries  or  ChSvaties 
specially  built  to  accommodate  them.  Dr.  Fryer  des¬ 
cribing  them  in  1673  says,  “Near  the  gate  in  a  choultry 
1.  Pages  156—157. 


YOGIS 


649 


N.  21.] 

sate  more  than  forty  naked  Jougies  or  men  united 
to  God  covered  with  ashes  and  plaited  Turbats  of  their 
own  Hair.”1  Fra  Bartolomeo  speaking  of  “the  Madams, 
Ambalams,  or  inns  erected  on  the  public  roads  for  the 
accommodation  of  strangers”  observes, “  In  these  inns 
those  philosophers  known  under  the  names  of  yogi  and 
Coswamu  and  by  some  called  Fakirs,  who  subject 
themselves  to  severest  penances  are  treated  at  the 
king’s  expense,  though  this  is  done  sometimes  in  some 
neighbouring  temples.  They  eat  nothing  but  rice, 
fruits,  herbs  etc.” 


i.  Page  160. 


CC 


The  Transliteration  Table  followed  in  the 
printing  of  this  work. 


The  Press  has  accented  letters  only  for  12  point  capitals  and 
lower  case  letters  ;  and,  even  among  these,  the  sets  are  not  com¬ 
plete. 

In  spite  of  great  care,  a  few  mistakes  have  crept  in  to  mar 
the  uniformity  attempted  to  be  maintained  in  spelling  the  names 
of  places  and  of  persons.  For  this,  the  Editor  craves  the  pardon 
of  the  reader. 


This  Press  owns  no  letters  of  the  Nagara  alphabet,  and  so 
Malayalam  characters  have  to  be  used. 


«TO 

a 

kha 

o_J  * 

pa 

S 

CO 

ga 

ClD 

pha 

m 

• 

1 

QQl 

gha 

6QJ 

ba 

«D© 

I 

6T3 

nga 

S 

bha 

a. 

u 

-QJ 

cha 

Cb 

ma 

g_(p 

u 

JO£d 

chha 

QQl 

ya 

8 

r 

a 

ja 

(0 

ra 

9 

r 

<mxo 

jha 

ej 

la 

STD 

1 

STD) 

fta 

QJ 

va 

<5Y© 

1 

s 

ta 

00 

sa 

«0) 

e 

0 

(ha 

cm 

sha 

• 

a® 

e 

OJO 

da 

cro 

sa 

®a® 

ai 

(UO 

cjha 

OD 

ha 

a 

0 

6TD 

na 

a. 

la 

GO 

0 

(0) 

ta 

<om 

k§ha 

G  © 

au 

LQ 

tha 

0 

ra 

(0TOO 

am 

O 

da 

la 

©TO* 

ab 

CO 

dha 

OO 

trtfa 

C0t> 

ka 

00 

ft  a 

nio 

rfta 

INDEX  TO  THE  NOTES 


A 

Abbe  Dubois — 84;  209. 

Abdika  (Masam)  — 106. 

Abhlnava  Gupta— 622. 

Achan— 19 1. 

Acharam  kotukkal— 439;  458. 

Addiyal — 219. 

Adhyans;  Ashtagrahatt.il —  32, 

35 ;  38;  608. 

Adiara  fees — 301;  302. 

Adityan  tholuka— 435. 

Adiyan—  1?8. 

Adoption  (Of  Nayars) — 299. 

Adultery— 108. 

Agnihottris  -38. 

Agraharams— 602;  627. 

Ahirman— 599. 

Aikkara  Yajamanan— 4S0;  508. 
Akayilullavar—  628. 

Albequerque— 213. 

•Almaida— 388. 

Alyasanthana— 91;  92;  292. 

Amflan  (opium) — 226;  227. 

Ammaman — 336. 

Ammachi— 189. 

Amnia  Vitu  Mundu— 545. 

Ammayi— 306;  310 ;  436. 

Amochie— 227. 

Ambalavasi— 146. 

Amrtattu— 122. 

Anacharams— 63—  67;  62.3. 
Anadhyaya— 245. 

Anantha  chadurdasi— 638. 

Anantha  Krishna  Ayyar,  l>.  K. 

—437;  579;  581;  585. 

Ananthi  ravans — 238. 

Anchanpura— 109. 

Angul  iyangam— 363. 

Baber,  Mr.  Thomas  Harvey- 

330. 

Balboa,  Miquel — 1S0. 

Baldens— 383;  386. 

Balipatam— 457. 

Baker  (junior)  Rev.  Henry— 563. 
Barbosa— 61;  194;  198;  210;  211;  314; 
216,  zsoi  szr,  aO;  53 4;  262;  264) 


Anjengo— 250;  32S. 
Annaprasana— 35 1 . 

Antharala  Jatls  (sub-divisions 
of) — 4;  44 — i6r. 

Antharjanam  ( Akathamma)— 
49;  62S. 

Antinamaskaram— 59. 
Anuloma— 293. 

Anulcn.ajas— 8. 

Ara— 235. 

Aranjal— 219 
Aravan — 465. 

Arayans— 465. 

Archakas— 41. 

Arimpu  Mani— 218 
Aristottle— 260. 

Asan— 236;  239;  240;  244;  241;;  246 

Asari — 241;  370 

Ashtamangaliam—  271;  272;  317; 
4345  549. 

Ashtavydians— 42. 
Ashtikkuruchi  (Attikkarichis) 
194;  231;  308;  315. 
Asmarohanam— 8 1 . 

Atatini  or  Ata  tinnatha— 155*. 
156. 

Athal— 519. 

Atian — 121. 

Atikal — 147;  148 
Atithole— 121, 

Atiyamma— 149. 

Atiyoti — 349. 

Attalam  Uttu— 435. 

Avarodliam — 36s. 

Ayani  Unu— 7S;  256 
Ayirathiri— So. 


276;  29S;  332;  338;  343;  346;  3595 

368;  381;  423;  4251524. 

Barros,  de— 343;  64c. 

Barhalomeo  Fra— 221*  222;  226; 

247;  347;  415;  416;  474;  649. 
Batuta  lbu— 197;  374  5  385;  419, 
461;  646. 

Dana  Perumal  -124. 


A 


652 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


B —cont. 

Beauchamp,  M.— 84. 

Benjamin  Cabbl— 249. 

Bentink,  Lord  William — 329. 

Bethoas— 476. 

Bhadrakall  Pattu— 240. 

Bhagavathi  Kavu — 240 
Bhagavathi  seva — 39. 

Bhajanam— 306. 

Bhandarathil — 137. 

Bharani  festival— 493. 

Bhattatiris— 38;  39. 

Bimbam  of  Thirumala  Devan 
(story  of) — 615;  618. 

Cabral,  Pedro  Alverz — 390. 

Caldwell,  Dr. — 168;  177;  426;  524. 
Camoens— 68;  228;  293. 

Canarese— 6 1 0—6 1 8 . 

Candimarams  (catamarams) — 474 
Canji  (Kanji)— 222;  225;  235;  236. 
Cannekkas— 476, 

Castenheda— 263;  338;  343;  383; 

384;  387;  397;  423. 

Castes,  extra  (sub-divisions  of)  — 

336;  337- 

Castes,  Malabar— 15;  16. 

Castes,  the  seven ty*two— 2— 6;  17 — 

26. 

Cemboca— 475. 

Census  Report  (of  Cochin)— 146; 

160;  232;  253;  523. 

Do  (Imperial) — 387. 

Do  (of  Travancore)  —  137 
144;  253;  295;  523. 

Chakkala  (Chakingal  Nayar) — 194. 
Chakkiyar— 146;  147;’ 148;  361;  362 
Chakkiyarkoothu— 262;  363 
Chalian— 194;  370. 

Chandalas— 533. 

Chandu  Menon,  O— 90;  258;  269. 
Channar  (shannar) — 424. 

Chan  tarn  Chartt— 122. 

Charnavar— 192;  193. 

Charthupidi— 434. 

Chaturanga— 122. 

Chattuka— 569 

D 

Dagwars  Kini,  C16. 

Das;  put  ra — 289. 

Dasivicharam — 109. 

Dattavakasam— 439;  538. 

Day,  Dr.— 135;  330;  445;  602;  633.; 
Days— 345. 


Blackstone— 285. 

Bourdlllon— 539. 

B  rahmacharys— 70. 

Brahman  (subdivisions  of) — 2—3, 
Brahmana  Sahasra  Bhojanam— 
39- 

Brahman!  Pattu— 254;  351. 
Brahmas  warn  Mathams— 71. 
Brougham,  Lord— 291. 

Brown— 291, 

Buchanan— 268;  3S4;  428:445:  533* 
Burnell,  Dr.  A.  C.— 91;  92;  428. 

Burton,  Richard— 196. 

Chavettu  Viruthl— 360. 
Chavettu  Vlruthikkar— 230. 
Cheetikan— 194,  308;  315;  319. 

Che  I  lam— 238. 

Chempakaraman— 188:  189. 
Chempukottl— 193;  23i;\369;  370. 

Chenta— 322. 

Cheppuka— 569. 

Cheraman  Perumal— 278;  510. 
Cherujanmakar— 239;  241. 

Cherula — 318. 

Cherumars— 476. 

Cheruthali— 158;  350 
Chetties— 194;  231. 

Chevaka  (Chekava)— 424. 

Cheviyil  Mantram— 504. 

Cheviyil  Ottu— 104. 
Chllampanties— 158. 

Chogas— 424,, 

Choroon  (Chorunu) — 124;  310 
Chuttu— 158. 

Ciangada— 475. 

Civacada  (Chpwghat) — 227. 
Cloathlng  (of  Nambutiris)— 48:49. 
Cockburn,  Sir  Alexander— 282. 
Coleridge,  Father — 393. 

Collins,  Rev.  Richard— 170;  471; 

478;  485;  488;  561. 

Correa,  Gasper— 3825389. 

Crooks,  Sir  William — 542. 

Cullen,  General — 207. 

Curry— 222. 

Deepavali — 639. 

Della  Vella— 60;  198;  1995200;  210! 
21 1;  213;  214;  215:  234;  339:420! 
646. 

Denikar— 576. 

Desams— 185;  239r  355- 


INDEX 

D — :*nt. 


653 


Desakkars— 311;  313* 
Desavalies— 239;  355. 
Dhyanam— 39. 

Dladorous  Siculus  260 
DIksha— 319. 

Diksha  Virippu— 143. 

Edappally  Chief — 58. 

Elamatt  Kali — 128. 

Elattalam— 322. 

Eiayatus— 45;  46;  3X8. 
Eluthassan— 243. 

Eluttinu  Iruttal— 244. 
Eluttupalli — 248. 

Embrandiries—  3;  4;  12. 
Emmanuel  (King  of  Portugal)— 
226. 

Fanam  (Panam)— 247, 
Faria-y-Souza— 390;  391;  392. 
Fawcett— 31;  50;  61;  135;  169; 

265;  266,  267,  289,  290,  295,  451. 
Fencing  exercises — 345—346. 
Fergusan,  James — i6j5,  175- 
Feudalism  (in  Malabar) — 356. 
Fitch,  Ralph— 195,  198,  212. 

Galletti,  Mr.— 327. 

Ganapathy—  242,  353. 

Ganapathy  homam— 39. 
Ganapathy  puja— 118. 
Gangadharatirukoviladhikarikal 
—137. 

Garcia— 338. 

Gollenesse— 32s. 

Gouripuja — 118. 

Gourisankar — 2 1 9. 

Govlnda  Menon,  K.— 579,  585,  587. 
Govinda  PHlai,  Justice--28r. 

Haddon,  Professor — 596. 

Hamilton, Captain  Alexander — 2d, 

21 1,  213,  226,  234,  380,423,431,462. 
Hamilton,  Dr.  Buchanan— 175. 
Hamilton,  Walter— 230,  331. 
Harlkkars— 605. 

Herodotus — 260. 

Hill  tribes— 323— 526,  538' 

Hiravas — 314. 

Hobson— Jobson— 230. 


Droupadl— 260. 

Drury,  Captain  Heben— 207*  330 
33i;  342. 

Duncan,  Jonathan— 228;  381. 

Dutch  East  India  Company— 61 1 
Dutt— 30. 


Enangais— 186;  274;  537- 
Enangatti— 453- 

Entrant  Kolal— 219;  350. 

E  rati— 349. 

Eravellers— 589;  601. 

Etachery  Nayar— 193;  231;  370. 
Ettam— 245. 

Exorcisms  (of  pulayas)  -493—497. 
Ezhuvas— 424. 


Forbes— 134  135.  201,  217,  226, 

234.  250,  327,  328. 

Forster— 208,  642. 

Frederick  Coesar— 199,  210,  21 1 
229,  421. 

Friendship  (of  pulayas)— 498 — 501 
Fryer,  Dr.— 339,  383,  423,  648. 

G 

Graemme— 358. 

Grahasta  Asramam— 71,  74—95. 
Gramams—31,  32,602. 

Graminis— 45. 

Grandha — Grandhavari — 248, 

Grose,  Mr.— 135,  212,  328,  379. 
Gulusu— 219. 

Gundert,  Dr.— 168,  177,'  184,  1S5, 
539- 

Guru— 124. 

Gurudakshina— 246, 

H 

Holloway,  Justice— 296,  300,  303. 
Holyas— 478,  493. 

Homam — 39. 

Homiss.  Mr. — 532. 

Hopi  women— 290,  291. 

Hough— 392,  393,  394. 

Huan.  Ma— 18c,  197,  222.  460,  647 
Hunt,  Justice — 282. 

Hunter,  Captain— 200, 

Hunter,  W,  W,  29, 


654  LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


i 


lllakkar— 192,  231,  353,  556,. 
Mom— 52, 121,  431,  464. 
Huvan— 336. 

Uuvattis— 445. 

Incha — 236,  308. 

Jalapisach — 68. 

Jangama— 125. 

Jatimatrey  an — 42. 

Jatis.  extra— 6. 

Jodacheri— 370. 

John  (King  of  Portugal)— 61 1. 

Kachchakettai— 345. 
Kachappuram— 219. 

Kachia  Enna — 236. 
Kadathanad,  Raja  of— 350- 
Kaikkarans— 51 1,  512. 
Kaikottikkali— 237,  324. 

Kail — 223. 

Kaima  I—190. 

Kalmanl — 322,  336. 

Kaimukku  Vaidikan— 84. 

(Krishnan  Nambutiripad) 
Kaippilly  lllom— 623. 

Kakkat  Karanavappad— 348. 
Kalakom— 156. 

Kalamkotti— 194,  231. 
Kalampu— 236. 

Kalaries— 249,  343,  344;  347. 
KaIati-62  2. 

Kalay— 554. 

Kallari— 121. 

Kallasari— 430. 

Kallur  Nayar— 128,  352. 
Kalpilly  Canarah  Me  non— 2:9. 
Kammal  -  218. 

Kammalars— 37°,  37 1. 
Kampittayam— 123. 
Kanakkars— 330,  476. 
Kanikkars  (Kanis)— 53S,  539~ 
SS3.  565] 

Kaniyan— 241,  447,  448. 
Kanjavu  (Kancham)— 227. 
Kannapulajras— 498,  Sox. 
Kannokku  Kanuka— 321. 
Kantasaram— 2 18. 

Kappu— 219. 

Kappukettuka— 234,  434« 
Karakkars— 241,  311. 

Karanatta  Kunip— 607. 


I  rchakol  lan — 370. 
lrupathettupurannal— 310. 
lruvalinad  Nampiars— 348. 
Itiyans— 635. 


Johnson— 239,  338. 

Johnston,  Sir  Harry— 161,  343 
Jordames,  Frair— 97,  213,  225, 

249. 

Jotish  Sastrakkar— 42 
K 

Karanavans— 187,  234,237,  297,298. 
Karikadi— 122. 

Karil — 223. 

Karivelattu  Nayar— 337. 
Karishlokams — 127. 

Karthavu  - 190,  349. 

Katar— 538,  539,  577  589- 
Katavu— 465,  466. 

Kathakali  123,  321  323. 

Kattila  —  221. 

Katukkans— 218. 

Katuthila— 382. 

Kavalkar— 239. 

Kawaguchi,  Mr.  Shamma 
Ekai — 500. 

Keane,  Dr.— 596,  597. 
Keraiacharas— 69. 

Kerala  Janm!  sabha — 136. 

Kerala  Kshitiratna  Mala— 185. 
Kerala  Mahatmyam— 29,  88,  90, 
91,  92,  261. 

Keralotpatti— 29,  39,  90,  91,  92, 
158, 16S,  173,  261,  279,  342, 357,  420. 
Kettukalyanam— 157,  253,  254— 
63,  351,  434,  466,  556,  572. 

Kldakkorakalyanam— 273. 
Kindi— 221,  224. 

Kiri  yams— 431,  432. 

Kiriyattil  Nayar— 192. 
Kirkpatrick,  Col.— 175. 

Koil  Thampuran— 139, 140. 
Kokkara— 493. 

Kolarians  of  Chotanagpur— 17S. 
Koiati— 636. 

Kolattiri  Rajahs— 278,  279,  420. 
Kolay  Nikuthi— 344* 

Kollan— 370. 

Kolusu— 219. 


INDEX 


655 


K 

Komarattan~5C5,  51 1,  512, 
Konkanies— 609— 610. 
Koothampalams— 365,  366. 
Kootiyattam— 364. 

Kottarakkaray  Raja— 322. 

Kovil  (Koyil)— 1437. 

Ko  vi  lammas— 350, 

Koymas— 106,  109. 

Krishna  Menon,  T.  K. — 322,  3^3. 
Krishnattam— 322. 

Kshatriyas— 137 — 144. 

Do  names  of— 9,  10,  1 3S. 

139- 

Do  marriage  of  9,  10 

Kshavurakkaran — 195. 

KudUmi— 210. 

Kuli— 521. 

Kumaranellur— 492. 

Kumarilla  Bhatta— 621. 

Kunchan  Nambiar— 323. 


La  Bourdonnais,  M  .Mahe,  de— 

339 

Lang,  Mr.  Andrew— 259. 

Lanoy— 418. 

Lennan  Me — 164;  259;  261. 
Linschoten — 193;  199;  210;  212; 

214;  23c;  236;  251;  338;  378; 
383;  486. 

M 

Machampikkaran— 274. 

Mackenzie,  Lord— 283. 

Mackenzie  Mss, — 448;  479;  602. 
Mahanavamy — 638 . 

Maine,  Sir  Henry— 93;  259. 
Makam— 118. 

Mala  Arayans— 338;  553;  5^3- 
Malabar  Qazatteer — 10;  11. 
Malabar  Marriage  Commission 
— 92. 

Malam  pashi— 543, 

Malayan — 242;  336;  338;  539;  577; 

589- 

Malik,  Aiyaz— 388. 

Malleans  (Maleans)—  525,  326. 

Mai  pads— '348. 

Mampu  Mala— 2tS« 

Mana— 32,  121. 

Manavalan— 256. 

Mandalam  Pattu— 240. 

Mandana  Misra— 621. 


Kunju  Thampi— 277. 

Kunni  Kelappan  Vaikeleri — 402, 
Kuppa  Madam— 121. 

Kuravas— 435,  550. 
Kurimanjada-  502. 

Kursam— 315. 

Kurukkal— 158. 

Kurup— 119,  511,  343- 
Kurumba— 543,  554. 

Kurumpar— 336. 

Kusavan— 243,  368,  369. 

Kutali—  448. 

Kutipukal— 81. 

Kutivaikal— 157. 

Kutivaram — 542. 

Kutumpy — 634. 

Kuttams— 239. 

Kuttam  Pilachu— 122. 

Kutti  puja— 372. 

Kuzhel — 402, 

Lockyer— 226. 

Logan,  Mr.— 31;  84;  115;  184,  1S7; 
265;  268;  278;  329;  332;  340; 
•127;  439- 
Lucenna— 463. 

Lubbock— 166. 

Lubin,  Pallebot  de  Saint— 643. 


Mangati  — 358. 

Manjal—  462. 

Manji— 474;  475- 
Mannans— 363— 377, 

Mannanar— 116. 

Mannatti — 52. 

Mantalu— 348. 

Mantravadis— 41. 

Manual  of  Trichinopoly  District 

—  IT. 

Mappillas — i8r. 

Marakkans — 460;  470. 

Marakuta— 46. 

Maran— 146;  193;  231. 
Marayammamar— 46. 

Marco  Polo—  197;  213;  644. 

Mariti — 512. 

Marthanda  Varma— 329. 

Masam — 106;  320, 

Matams— 568. 

Matavan— 193, 


656 


LETTERS  FROINM  MALABAR 


M — sont. 

Mateer.  Rev.  S— 268;  .-no;  479; 

489;  492;  493;  528;  54*;  542;  513; 

549;  562. 

Mattippasa  (Mattippal)— 531. 

Mattu — 242;  336. 

Mavn— 223. 

Mayne,  M — 296. 

Mekkanom  Iduka— 503. 

Menezes,  Archbishop— 59;  563; 

564- 

Menon,  Menokkl— 191. 

Micdatta  Aramanakal— 115;  116. 
Mifavu— 366. 

Moens.  M— 325;  326;  613. 

Mouson,  Frederick — 290. 

Montaigue— 263. 
iVlontesque— 264 
Moopans— 635, 

Moopen — 578. 

Moore,  Justice— 91,  275. 

Moosari— 370. 

Morgan— 259. 

Mrtpinda  pariksha— 75. 

N 

Nads-iSc,  1S7,  239,  T5S- 
Naduvalies— 239,  355- 
Nagam  Ayyar,  Mr.— 29,  35,  S3, 

268,  364. 

Nagapanchamy—  637. 

Nagapatam— 218. 

Nagar — 166. 

Naladdy  (Nayati) —  529— 53S. 

Naicke  r— 167. 

Nali — 219. 

Nalupadam — 124. 

Nalupanti — 218. 

Namakara  na— 35 1 . 

Nambis— 42. 

Narabutiris— 27 — 13G. 

Do  (appearance  of) — 46—48. 

Do  (marriage  of) — 9. 

Do  (names  of)— 28 

Do  (origin  of)— 29,  30,  31. 

Do  (ornaments  of) — 49—52. 

Do  (subdivisions  of)— 34. 

Nambutiripad— 32. 

Nampishtatiri — 137. 

Nampitls— 45,  146,  149,  336,  347, 

348. 

Nampiyar— 147,  is*,  31S,  349, 

362. 

Nampiyassan— 147. 

Nanayuka— i2i. 


Mrtyunjayam— 39. 

Muckuvan— 336,  .160. 

Muddalam— 322. 

Mudlyettu — 240. 

Mukkany  brahmins— 609. 
Mukkutti — 218. 

Mundu  Veyka — 503. 
Munnulaksham  saha  sranamam— 
39- 

Munro,  Col.  J.— 249. 

Munro,  Sir  Hector— 229. 

Munro,  Sir  Thomas— 239. 
Murajapam — 120. 

Murikotukkuka — 459. 

Mussads— 42. 

Mutta‘Kani — 543,  544,  545* 
Muthalu— 45,  46. 

Muthalmura— 43. 

Muthamana  Bhattatiri  (punish- 
ftient  of)  — 107,  10S. 
Muthuswamy  Ayyar,  Sir  T  — 
91,  257,  258,  262,  2r)6,  2S0,  296, 
Mutuvans— 565,  577. 

Nanchinat  Vellaians— 253. 
Nanda— 517. 

Nangiyars — 362,  366. 

Narayana  Dharma  paripalana 
sabha — 446. 

Narayana  Kurukkal,  Sree— 443. 
Narayana  Marar,  Mr.  Justice— 
— 84,  261. 

Nattupattan  137 
Nayadi  — 336. 

Nayars— 13,  14,  161—335,  33S— 
352. 

Nayum  puliyum— 122,  123 
Nedungadi — 349. 

Neerattukuli — 121. 

Neet,  royal— 301. 

Nella — 221. 

Newars— 175. 

Nicha  (subdivisions  of)— 5,  336.533 
Nieuhofi,  Captain — 196,  1^  2oi 
-l-S  214,  215,  2  >7,  250,  23S 
249,  251,  324,  339,  344.  5'  I, 

383,  386,  -.87,  524,  533. 

NiJampottuka— 1 22. 
Nilavilakku—  31S. 

Nira  pa  *a  2S6. 

Nishkramana — $51. 

Noolchc '  tin 
Nyur.a  jatis— 4. 


INDEX 

O 


657 


O’Connel,  Rev.  J.— 470. 

Odathu  Nayar— I93J23I. 
Olakkuta—242. 

Olas— 2^4* 

Ollares— 526. 

Onam — 232. 

Onniteree— 211. 

Othenan,  Thacholi— 200;  40. 

Pacheco,  Durant— 190. 
Padamangalam  (Pada  mangalakar) 
—193;  231. 

Padasaram— 219. 

Padava— 475. 

Padlnaru  atiyanthiram— 317— 
319- 

Padukka— 549. 

Painter,  Rev.  A.  F. — 558. 

Pakita — 123. 

Pakkanar— 517. 

Palantuni— 121. 

Palata— 442. 

Paiiath  Achan— 612. 

Palllchan— 193;  231;  352. 
Pallikuruppu— 122. 

Palur  Bhattatiri— 449;  450. 

Palur  Kaniyan— 450. 

Pampu— 107. 

Panan— 336;  4S6- 
Panchagavyam— 533. 
Panchasadhana — 7 1 . 

Pandarathil — 1 37 . 

Pandikuzhi  — 558. 

Pandy  Pattar— 606. 

Panikkar— 191;  336;  343;  346. 
Pantala— 349. 

Pantarams— 569. 

Pantukali — 122. 

Paplshtan— 45* 

Parakallu  Erika— 503. 

Parasu  Rama— 59;  62;  8S;  137;  261 
6io- 

Paravan— 336. 

Paraya— 336;  512—523- 
Parayan  (Velatum) — 521. 
Parisha— 124;  459. 

Parivattam— 122. 
Pariyappettaval— 52;  192. 

Paroor— 357. 

Patakkam— 219. 

Patattukaya— 321. 

Patita  (sub-divisions  of) — 5;  336; 

-*5  2* 


Otipakarcha— 241, 
Otikkans— 40. 

Otis — 472. 

Ottavari— 24®. 
Ottamthullal— 123;  321 — 323. 
Ottuttu— 71. 

Oupasanagni— Si. 


Patni  Kaiiji— 321. 

Pattar— 602— 609. 

Pattinikkari — 321. 
Pattumkachcha  Iduka— 27S 
Patukal— 122. 

Pavitram — 315;  31 S. 

Payasam — 225. 

Penkitayu— 51. 

Penkota — 521. 

Perumpadappil  Swaroopam — 
518. 

Perumpara— 402. 

Pettumarunnu — 309. 

Pilapilli — (Plapilly) — 149;  150;  337. 
Pilavu— 223 
Pillai— 188. 

PiHayatiri— 350. 

Pindam  Ittukuli—  317. 
Pisharasyars— 152. 

Pisharotis— 1 51—153. 

Pitarans— 149. 

Polutunitnka— 254;  503. 
Polygamy  -86. 

Ponamban— 465;  466, 
Ponnammas— 189. 

Porcad — 357. 

Porte  cochere— 220. 

Potti — 606;  607;  608. 

Poulichees — 529;  530. 

Pouran  ikammar— 42 . 

Powell,  Mr.  Baden — 179. 
Prabandhams — 563, 

Prachina  Malayalam — 185. 
Pramani— 239;  538. 

Prathamans — 225. 

Prathiloma— 293 
Prathilomajas— 8. 

Pudamuri— 269. 

Pudavakoda— 269. 

Pula— 242. 

Pulaya  (Pulleahs)— 36;  373;  477—  • 
5!2. 

Puliath  Nayar — 193,  352. 
Pulikuti— 30b,  441. 


658 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 


PuIIIls— 502. 

Pullingune  (Pulinkunnu)— 226. 
PuIIon— 456. 

Pulpaya — 221. 

Pu  rath  a  vakasam— 298 . 

Purchas— 336,  346,  377,  462,  486 

524. 

R 

Rama  Ayyan  Dalawah  of  Tra- 
vancore— 604. 
Ramanattam-^322. 

Raman  Pillai,  C.  V.— 273. 
Rama^Raja  of  Travancore— 277 . 
Rama  Varma  (King  of  Travancore) 
— 226. 

Ramusis— 360. 

Ravi  Varmah  Raja,  M.  A.,B.  L.— 
44,  258. 

S 

Sabha  mathams—  73. 

Sadhana  sampathy— 97. 
Samanthas— 12,  146,  337,  349. 
Samanya  Brahmanan— 40— 42. 
Samavartana— 142,  608. 

Saraband  ham— 1 4S,  253,  269,  298. 
Saraid  adhana—  1 60. 

Samooham  Madhams— 602,  603. 
Samketikanmar— 43.— 43. 
Sanchayanam— 105,  315,  316. 
Sancratojar  (Sankarachariar) — 63, 
353- 

Do  (life  of)— 618 — 625. 

Sanghakali— 123— 128. 

Sankara  Bhojanam— 125. 

Sankara  Menon,  M.  16. 

Sankara  Smriti— 47,  50,  56,  74, 

8s,  86,  87. 

Sapagrasthanma  r— 45 . 

Sarppakka vu — 5  2 . 

Sast  rangaka  1  i— 1 23— 1 28 . 
Sastrangakkar— 42,  43- 
Sawyer,  Mr.— 570. 

Shangunny  Menon,  Mr.— 352. 
Shashtyabdapurthi — 312- 
Shodasa  Samskaras— 98— 100. 
Shola— S3o. 

Silalma— 122. 

T 

Tacholi  Othenan— 200. 

Taggra  (tavaram)— 226. 

Takk&"-2iS» 


Pushpakan— 145,  147. 
Pushpannali— 39. 

Puttall— 219. 

Putuval — 337,  367,  368. 

Pyche  Raja — 340.  341. 

Pyrard  de  Laval — 196,  230,  332, 
338,  381,  447- 

Razak,  Abdur — 197,  382. 

Reclus,  Elic— 134,  196,  209,  210, 
231,  257,  324- 

Richards,  Rev.  W.  J.— 473,  482. 
Risely.  Mr.— 8. 

Rowkkai — 203,  204,  205,  206. 

Rudraksham— 219. 

Rules  of  good  conduct— 131,  132, 
133. 


Silpl  (sub-divisions  of)—  5 
Simhalam— 424,  426. 
Sivaguru—619. 

Smarthas— 40. 
Smarthavicharam  — 40,  ic8 
Smith,  A.  P.— 549. 

Snathaka  Vrtti— 72. 

Snow,  Captain-^208. 

Sonar— 633. 

Sonnerat— 252 
Sringerl—  621. 

Sriranga— 539. 

Sthanikal — 51 1,  512. 

Strabu— 182. 

Strange,  Mr.— 299. 

Stuart,  Mr. — 349. 

Sturrock,  Mr.— 633. 
Subrahmania  Ayyar,  Dr.— 29,  51 
68,  152,  196,  231,  335. 

Sudras  (sub-divisions  of)  4,  5,  171* 
Svetaketu— 260. 

Swadhyaya — 245. 

Swamiyarof  Combaconam 
Madham  (life  of)— 615. 
Swaroopakkar— 192,  193,  231. 
Syed  Ameer  Ali,  Rt.  Hon.  Sir- 
288. 


Takshakas— 166 
Talappoll— 240. 
Tali— 219, 


INDEX 


659 


T— 


:ont% 


TamiIpadam-^193. 

Tampan  (Thampayi  Thampatty)  — 
137,  140,  141,  142. 

Tampi— 188,  189, 

Tampurakkal— 34 . 

Tampurans — 121,  137,  138,  139, 
140. 

Tampuratti— 137. 

Tanams— 73. 

Tandapulayas— 483,  484. 

Tandu  marriage—  507* 

Tandum  Motiram— 218. 
Tantan— 432.  436,  443. 

Tantries — 41. 

Tarananellur  Nambutiripad— 41. 
Taras— 186;  187,  239. 

Tarawad — 186,  234. 

Tata — 242 
Tattan— 242;  370, 

Tattutpkkal— 48,  318. 

Tavernier — 199  210,  213, 

Taylor,  Revc — 162. 

Temple,  Sir  William — 260. 
Testamentary  powers  (of  Nayars) 
-299. 

Thachudaya  KaimaJ— 120,  368 
Thekkenkoor-517,  518, 

Thenga  (Thenkai)—  427. 
Thevendt— 185,  378, 

Thurston,  Edgar — 30  173,  209, 

229 

Thyvee— 379,  380. 

Tippedal— 122* 

Tirantukull — 311. 

Tirumaladevas  warn— 615. 

Udakakriya— 315. 
Udakavicharam— 113. 

Uddyanam— 219. 

UlinjaJ— 324. 

Uliyam— 446. 

Ullatan— 336,  476,  526-^528, 
Unittiri— 349. 

Unnatiri — 349, 

Unnikitavu— 51. 

Vachchunamaskaram — 12S. 
Vachuthalii— 435. 

Vadhyans— 40. 

Vakka— 565. 

Valan  (Valammars) — 336,  370,  463, 
464, 


Tirumanas— 121 

Tirumukham  Kodukkuka— 188. 
Ti  rumulkal  cha— 465. 

Tirummal— 344. 

Tirumumpara — 39c. 
Tirumuthuvelakkuka — 122 
Tirupad  (ThirumulPad) — 137 
140,  141,  142,  349. 
Tiruvadira— 118,  252. 

Tiruvallom — 320. 

Tiruvatirakali — 321. 

Tiruvella  desis— 44,  45. 
Tiruvellaketu— 122, 

Tiruvelluvar  Naynar— 515 
Titturam— 465 
Tivas— 430. 

Tiyyattu— 240. 

Tiyyattunni— 147,  149. 

Tiyyers— 424. 

Tohful-ul-Mujahideen— -421,  423. 
Tole  Kurup— 336. 

Tonies— 474,  47v 
Toonen— 370. 

Topiniard,  Dr.— 596. 

Tota  (Toda) — 218,  530 
Trkala  puja— 39, 

Trkkakara  Appan— 243. 
Trkkariyur— 124. 

Trikketta— 117. 

Trsandha— 71 
Trttala— 517. 

Treveliyan,  Sir  Charles — 206. 

Tudi— 402. 

Tulasi— 219. 

Tulu  pattar— 606. 

Unnithan— 191. 

Upakarma—  11b. 

U  panay  anam — 1 00—  1 04. 

Uralis— 565— 577. 

(Jrila  parisha  Mussads-“45. 
Utaya  Thampuran— 491,  50S, 
Uttupuras— 605. 
Uzhamporukkuka  -272. 


Vallams— 474.  475- 
Do  Chundan— 473> 

Do  Kettu— 472, 

Do  Kevu—  472. 
Vallons— 499,  508,  51 1 
Valloti— 349* 


LETTERS  FROM  MALABAR 

V— co  nt. 


660 


Valliathan— 191. 

Van,  M.— 631. 

Varadekshina— 142. 

Varam— 71. 

Variyars— 153— 157. 

Varthema— 198,  222,  338,  360,  377* 
396,  398,  402,  423,  461,  646. 
Vascodegama  —  210,  213. 
Vasishta— 513. 

Vatikkarans — 511,  512. 
Vattakkadan— -194,  231,  370. 
Vattis— 502. 

Vayaru  Ponkala — 506. 

Vayattu  Ponkala— 507. 

Vela  — 520. 

Velakkethelavan— 195;  211;  242; 
353* 

Vedan— 242;  336. 

Veliath  Nayar— 352. 
Velichapad— 520J 

Wadakenkoor— 357 . 

Wadi— S44. 

Wskyavrtti  —  1 24. 

Wallace,  Mr.  —20S. 
Wailamneoers— 370. 

Warden, Mr.— 264;’ 335. 

Wedden— 528. 

Welsh,  Col,  James— 196;  210;  341; 
461. 

Yat  radanam— 3 1 3. 

Yat  rakal  i — 12  3— 1 28. 
Yogakshemam— 1 36. 

Zamorln- 21c;  211;  215;  224;  491.. 


Veluthedan — 195:  231;  242. 
Vellalans— 337,  353* 

Venganattil  (Kollengode)  Nam- 
pidy— 348. 

Vetan— 528;  529. 

Vidaram  Kayaral— 272. 
Vidyarambham— 24-1, 
Vijayadesami — 243. 

Vilacca— 221. 

Vilkurup — 336;  446, 

Villuvetan — 589. 
Vinayakachathurthi — 637. 
yirappan— 539, 

Virivalloms— 568. 

Vlshali— 49. 

Vishnu— 252. 

Visishta  Brahmana— 38— 40. 

Vis  warn!  tra— 513, 

Vydikans— 40. 

W 

West,  Justice  Mr. — 133. 
Westmark,  Professor — 208;  259. 
Wigram— 263. 

Wilkes,  Col— 330;  340;  384;  604, 
Wilks— 260. 

Williams,  Professor  Monjer — 

320. 

Whiteway — 388;  398,  41S, 
Wisliath  Nayar — 370. 

Y 

Yogi— 642. 

Yogiathiripad  (Yo'giar)— 36. 
Yule,  Col — 250. 

I 

Zeen-ud-deen,  Shiek— 199;  234^, 
300;  319;  397;  419;  430; 


. 


. 


' 


r